Simmons: Hosein a WI player for the future

WEST Indies head coach Phil Simmons said TT’s Akeal Hosein is a player for the future after West Indies were swept by Bangladesh 3-0 in the three-match One Day International (ODI) series, which ended in Bangladesh, on Monday.

Left-arm spinner Hosein, playing in his first ODI series, was one of the standout performers for West Indies.

His best outing was in the opening contest when he grabbed 3/26 in ten overs. He could not continue that productivity for the rest of the series, but he still ended as the most successful bowler for West Indies with four wickets at an economy rate of 3.98.

West Indies were comprehensively defeated in all three matches with the regional batsmen struggling to deliver the goods. West Indies posted scores of 122, 148 and 177 in the series. Rovman Powell showed some consistency with the bat for West Indies scoring 116 runs in the series. He had scores of 28, 41 and 47 to end with an average of 38.66.

Following the final match of the series, Simmons said, “I think our performance has been under par. I think we didn’t bat as well as we can do. Bowling wasn’t that bad (and) on this wicket to limit them under 300 (in the last match) has been good but our batting has been poor throughout the series.”

Simmons said Hosein’s effort during the series has been noticed.

“He is definitely a man of the future. To make your debut and to get a three-for on your debut and then have the kind of respect that you’ve gained and you have been shown in the last two games it means that you are improving and you are doing something right, so he is someone for the future.”

Asked what he learned from the series, Simmons said, “That we need to play spin better, we need to be able to rotate strike and score boundaries in Bangladesh a lot better. There is work to be done.”

More than ten West Indies players chose not to tour Bangladesh because of covid19, personal fears or personal reasons. Two of the players who opted not to tour were West Indies ODI captain Kieron Pollard and Test captain Jason Holder.

Jason Mohammed was given the job of captaining the ODI team.

Despite struggling with the bat Simmons was satisfied with his leadership during the series.

“I think he has done well…he has commanded things well on the field. Unfortunately he did not get as much runs as he wanted to get, but I think as a captain on the field he has definitely done very well.”

Simmons said West Indies must improve in all areas especially in the batting department.

Kraigg Brathwaite will captain West Indies in a two-match Test series against Bangladesh from February 3-15.