“This is the first time that I’ll be working with MS”.
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Carlos Brathwaite, the newly appointed West Indies Twenty20 worldwide captain, credited the senior members of his side for easing him into his new role. On paper, West Indies surely looks better than Indian side but with these top teams clashing against each other, full of thrill and excitement is expected along with lots of entertainment.
Previously, the venue – which is the only ICC-certified ODI standard facility in the United States of America – has hosted four T20Is and six matches of this year’s Caribbean Premier League. He was sacked in what he claimed was a “30-second phone call” and replaced by Carlos Brathwaite who etched his name into West Indies cricket folklore by smashing four sixes in the final over against England to win this year’s World T20 final in Mumbai.
India and West Indies are teams packed with some major stars, and when these two sides feature in the highly-entertaining T20 format, it is going to be a brilliant contest.
Brathwaite’s outfit includes the likes of flamboyant opener Chris Gayle, allrounder Andre Russell and spinner Sunil Narine. “I don’t think it’s a case where I have to negotiate too many egos”. I’ve known him as a player. Coach Phil Simmons is also pleased with the big guns featuring in the T20 side. “Sometimes having one allrounder can give you balance”. Power-hitters become crucial in the smaller formats, and they have so many of them. Right from the top order comprising Chris Gayle to number nine batsman captain Carlos Brathwaite, they have some unsafe players, who can change the course of the game in a matter of overs.
Their most recent meeting was in the semi-final of the T20 World Cup when West Indies chased down 193 to win in the final over. “So hopefully we can find a way to win and make the people of the Caribbean proud”. “There has been a lot of rain in India, which is a good thing since we needed that”.
The Caribbean side, now in third position, can move to second spot in the International Cricket Council’s official Twenty20 rankings, once they can make a clean sweep of their two-match series against India.
Simmons stated that beating India in the T20s, just like they had done in the World T20 semi-final in Mumbai, was going to be a bigger motivation than their T20 ranking, which is third now behind New Zealand and India. “From what he’s on the pitch, he just gives everything over there and he’s always going to be our main player for us”.
“As far as the [Lauderhill] facility is concerned, it is as good as what you would get anywhere in the world”, he said.
The two T20 are taking place on the weekend at the Central Broward Regional Park Stadium.
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“This is an awesome stadium, awesome!” declared Simmons.
