Windies’ Coley calls for clarity ahead of 2nd India Test

West Indies can win the second and final Cycle Pure Agarbathi Test match against India, starting Thursday at the Queen’s Park Oval in St Clair.

So said maroon head coach Andre Coley on Tuesday, after his team’s arrival at the venue ahead of their first training session under cloudy skies.

This Test is a historic one; the 100th between both nations, and Coley believes his squad has what it takes to regroup after the devastating innings and 141-run loss in the first-leg in Dominica last week.

When asked how could the team regroup heading into such an iconic fixture, Coley wants his players to believe in themselves and the results will come.

“Belief in yourself as individuals and as a team is massive. Having a clear plan and sticking with it, that’s going to be really important, and staying in the moment. As the game unfolds, we’re going to be asked different questions.

“How we respond to different situations is important. But at each stage, if we have clarity about how we want to go about things, and then we back that completely, while being smart, there’s no reason why we can’t give a good account of ourselves.”

He added that West Indies is still a “popular brand” and despite some disappointment “in the recent weeks and months”, Thursday’s clash against India is just another opportunity for them to do better.

At Windsor Park in Dominica, the pitch dried out after the first day’s play and was tailor-made for Indian spin, which proved the detriment of West Indian batsmen for the next two days.

Over the weekend, maroon skipper Kraigg Brathwaite hoped for a greener, more pace-friendly pitch at the Oval, to aid his team’s fast bowling strengths.

The Oval pitch however, on Tuesday, looked a bit dry, despite some light drizzles throughout the day.

When Newsday spoke to Coley, he had not yet inspected the pitch but confirmed that a lot of him team’s strengths lie within their fast bowling options.

“Summing up the conditions, working out where we’re our scoring (batsmen) options are going to be and being confident enough to keep out good deliveries.

“When you look at our fast bowling attack, the majority of wickets have been taken by our quicks. From that standpoint we have a lot if experience in that department. We will assess the conditions and then make a decision moving forward.”

Spinner Rahkeem Cornwall, who missed most of the final two days of the opening Test owing to chest congestion, is with the team and is being monitored to see how he progresses for the clash.

Everyone else is fit, said Coley.

With Cornwall uncertain and Guyanese off-spinning, all-rounder Kevin Sinclair replacing Raymon Reifer for the second Test, Coley believes the pitch conditions play an important factor in selecting his final 11.

On Sinclair’s possible addition to the starting line-up, Coley said, “That is down to the combination on the day of the match. Once we know what the conditions look like, we will make a determination on the final 11 is going to play.”