West Indies head coach Phil Simmons has strongly reacted to his team’s 0-3 whitewash in the recently concluded ODI series against India on Friday (February 11) in Ahmedabad.
During the ODI series, the West Indies team failed to cross the 200-run mark and was whitewashed to a 0-3 series defeat against Team India, and that was something very hurtful for the tourists, especially Simmons.
Notably, the West Indies have not been able to bat out their full 50 overs in their previous six ODI matches, and the head coach said that the West Indies need to pay urgent attention to this area.
Simmons told reporters ODI series loss to India: “It (batting) does need urgent attention because it has just lost us the last two games. Just a year ago we were cruising to 280-290 against Sri Lanka. So the batting is a huge concern and people should stand up as we go into our next set in June. People should make sure that they are batting for West Indies.”
West Indies managed only 176 in the first ODI, were bowled out for 193 in their second ODI chase of 238, and were dismissed for 169 in their final ODI against India at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
Reacting to dismal batting performance against India, the head coach said, “We've got to assess the situation and play accordingly. Most of the guys who are playing in that top five or six have got Test hundreds so they can bat. We can't be 100-6 in 20 overs, it's a 50 over game.”
The former all-rounder continued, “The last six games have been difficult in this format. We started putting things together when we played Sri Lanka. Difficult against Australia. But for this to come now, it's hard to swallow from the batsmen. It's hurtful and players know that. We have to go back and improve to play in these conditions and continue to work on them.”
However, Simmons expressed confidence that the West Indies will bounce back in the upcoming three-match T20I series against India, having come off of a T20I series win over England at home. The T20I series will start on February 16 at Eden Gardens, Kolkata.
He signed off by saying, “We have five players coming in from that series win over England so they will bring a bit of a winning vibe.”
(With AFP Inputs)
