Simmons wants new West Indies players to deliver under pressure

WEST INDIES coach Phil Simmons believes the forthcoming T20 and One-Day International (ODI) series against Pakistan could signal a new dawn for the regional team.

The WI begin a three-match T20 series against the hosts at the National Stadium, Karachi on Monday and concludes a bumper year with three ODIs at the same venue from December 18.

West Indies however, are without 'white ball' captain Kieron Pollard, who recently pulled out of the tour owing to a niggling hamstring injury.

The visitors are also without the likes of experienced all-rounders Jason Holder and Andre Russell, left-handed batsmen Evin Lewis and Shimron Hetmyer, all of whom opted out of the tour for varying reasons.

They were replaced by newcomers Justin Greaves, Shamarh Brooks, Gudakesh Motie and Odean Smith, who all earned their maiden call-ups to the ODI team; while Dominic Drakes and Motie have been included in the T20 line-up.

Additionally, veteran all-rounder Dwayne Bravo recently retired from international cricket while 42-yearold Jamaican batsman Chris Gayle remains tight-lipped on his future; both following a dismal display at the ICC T20 World Cup in October.

This series serves as the West Indies’ first white ball tour since their dismal display at the T20 World Cup in the United Arab Emirates. Nicholas Pooran captains the T20 team while Shai Hope leads the ODI squad.

Simmons sees change on the horizon of West Indies cricket.

“We’re looking to see who’s going to put their hands up to be a major player in the team. We know what happened in the World Cup and we’re not going to go back there.

“We’re looking to move forward and to see who now wants to go forward with this team with our different ideas, how we want to play and how things are going to change within the squad.

“Not just from a cricketing point of view but from an attitude point of view and everything like that. Those are the things we are looking forward to seeing from this young group,” Simmons said in Friday’s virtual Cricket West Indies presser.

With the next ICC T20 World Cup just under a year away in Australia, Simmons said it’s never too soon to give young players a chance on the big stage to see if they can bring a positive difference to team’s setup.

Pakistan serves a true test to witness what these youngsters have to offer.

“You have a feel of what you have to do (competing). It’s just about them saying that we want to go forward with this team and want to do the things necessary to help this team win.

“And yes, we have an idea of what they (youngsters) can deliver. But they’ve got to go out there and start showing us they can deliver it under pressure; which against Pakistan in Pakistan, is as much pressure as you can get.

“So whether Pollard and Russell is here, we would still want to see how they fare against opposition. It’s as top as you can get right now in T20 cricket,” the coach added.

Pakistan however, are in good form in both T20 and ODI formats. At the T20 World Cup, they played brilliantly throughout but were ousted by eventual winners Australia in the semi-finals.

Most recently against Bangladesh, Pakistan swept a T20 series 3-0 and also secure an easy 2-0 Test series win.

When asked how the young touring group is expected to fare against the in-form hosts, Simmons said plans are being put in place to deal with the likes of ace batsmen, captain Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan, as well as targeting top left-arm fast bowler Shaheen Afridi.

“We definitely have to go in with some plans for them (Rizwan and Azam). The main thing you want to do is try and get them out.

“You go in with your plans and always have a second plan in case they get out. I think there will be plan A, plan B and plan C for that pair because that’s a major part of their batting.

“That’s always a part of it. So it will be great to see the bowlers (WI) bowling against the skipper (Azam) and Rizwan, and the batsmen facing Afridi. So you look forward to see what they give in this competitive situation we’re going into,” he said.

The WI coach also defended the selectors’ choice to include the likes of Hope and fast bowler Oshane Thomas (in the T20 squad), as well as Rovman Powell and Devon Thomas as Pollard's replacements (in the T20 and ODI squads respectively).

Simmons does not think the squad lacks in any area, particularly big-hitting, and believes they have enough depth to emerge victors in both series in Karachi.

West Indies cricket, he said, is evolving.

“T20 is a game of boundaries, a game of big-hitting but you also have to incorporate everything else. And I think as you go along, things evolve. Let’s hope that as we play this series, we can see where we’re evolving to.

“We still have quite a few players who can hit the ball over the boundary as easy as before but with what we have here, let’s see where we’re evolving to and then we can know how we want to play good cricket,” he added.

Referring to Oshane Thomas, who was part of the T20 squad but did not play a game, Simmons said, “Oshane was selected to get wickets at the top. He is coming along. We will see on this tour where he’s at and see if he continues to push for that elusive place for him (on the team). But that’s his main role to bowl fast and get wickets at the top."

Powell had disappointing returns with the bat in the 2020 and 2021 Caribbean Premier League. But Simmons noted, “I think Rovman didn’t do well in the Caribbean Premier League but he’s been playing well lately, especially in the two tournaments he went to. With Pollard out, we had to find someone down at the end (of the innings) who could do that job.

"In the ODIs, Thomas has come in for Pollard as a batman in the middle."

Simmons also touched on the on-field leadership of both squads. “Hope been the ODI vice-captain and Nicholas Pooran the T20 vice-captain so it make sense they assist each other in the two series.”