West Indies skipper Shai Hope questioned the attitude of his players after they were eliminated from the upcoming ODI World Cup qualification race on Saturday (July 1).
The ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023, slated to be held in India from October 5 to November 19, will be the first edition to not feature the West Indies, who won the first two editions of the tournament in 1975 and 1979.
Defeats to Zimbabwe and Netherlands in the group stage of World Cup 2023 Qualifiers mean that West Indies needed to be at their very best against Scotland in the Super Six round to keep their World Cup hopes alive.
However, the Caribbean team hit a new low, losing to Scotland by seven wickets at Harare Sports Club to be knocked out of the 50-over World Cup race.
“To be honest, it’s not one thing I can put my finger on. We certainly let ourselves down in the tournament,” Hope told the broadcaster after West Indies’ humiliating ouster.
“It really has to do with the attitude. The fielding is an attitude according to me, catches will be dropped and misfields will happen, that’s a part of the game and I feel that we did not give 100 per cent effort every time, we did it in patches.
“It starts with the foundation — from back home, the preparation needs to be better. We cannot come here and expect to be an elite team without preparation. You can’t expect to wake up one morning and be a great team,” he added.
In the all-important fixture, the two-time champions were totally outplayed by Scotland. Invited to bat first, West Indies’ innings folded for a paltry 181 in 43.5 overs. It was a listless batting performance as no one managed to hit a half-century. Jason Holder was the top scorer with 45.
In reply, Scotland rode on half-centuries from Matthew Cross (74*) and Brandon McMullen (69) to overhaul the target with 39 deliveries to spare.
“We need to look at how we start our innings definitely,” the captain stated.
“We knew it would be challenging. The toss is always crucial but we need to find a way to counter that early movement. Every single captain who wins the toss here decides to bowl first and we needed to counter that early morning moisture. We need to give the West Indian fans something to cheer about.”
Shai Hope said the West Indies team would look to make the most of the last two games even though the fixtures are now inconsequential.
“We have two more games and we need to find a way to bounce back. The talent is there, I always believe that, but we need to translate that into consistent performances.”
(With PTI Inputs)
