All-rounder Carlos Braithwaite is backing West Indies to win the 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup despite the general belief that Calypso Kings wouldn't be a major threat for top sides in England and Wales this summer.
West Indies recently drew their five-match ODI series 2-2 against world No.1 ranked England and that is the kind of performance Braithwaite is hoping that his team will be able to "replicate" versus other countries as well.
"I don’t want ourselves to be called favourites or underdogs," he told PTI. "But we have recently played some great brand of cricket (against England) and if we can replicate that (in England) we will go somewhere close to challenging for the title."
"We have been traditionally a good tournament team, so hopefully, we can win the third World Cup. From the players' point of view, we have the belief that we can win and we will play our best cricket."
The World Cup begins on May 30, a day earlier to when West Indies kickstart their campaign against Pakistan in Trent Bridge. The 10-team marquee event will follow the 1992 World Cup format that saw all sides face each other before the top four moved into the knock-outs.
"We have to play our best game over nine or something preliminary games and then in the semi-finals and finals," Braithwaite added. "We are keeping our hopes up, we are very positive. We know what we can do but we need to execute our plans. We have full faith that we can lift the trophy."
On a personal note, Braithwaite is currently busy preparing for the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL) season for which he was bought at Rs 5 crore in the auction by Kolkata Knight Riders this year.
"KKR is one the teams that has bid for me throughout my short IPL career thus far," he said. "During IPL after games CPLs, that sort of stuff met Venky Mysore. So it’s good to be working under him."
"I have watched the Knight Riders franchise from afar in my three IPLs and CPLs since they have taken over Trinbago Knight Riders as well. Seems like it’s a relaxed place and a happy family," Braithwaite concluded.
