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A SERIES win against South Africa in the five-match T20 Internationals, which bowls off at the National Cricket Stadium in St George's, Grenada on Saturday, remains top priority for West Indies skipper Kieron Pollard.
Coming off a recent 2-0 Test series loss against the Proteas, Pollard – who was not part of the Test team – believes the maroon outfit have the required firepower to secure a much-needed win over the visitors. All matches in this series will bowl off at 2 pm.
South Africa are currently ranked sixth on the International Cricket Council’s T20I rankings while the defending World Cup champions are tenth. Unbothered by this statistic, Pollard is convinced the experienced bunch can pull off victory at home.
Speaking to the media on Friday, the skipper said, “It’s about how we play our cricket and how we want to play our cricket going forward in the future…Winning is very important and creating that winning culture. We’ll see how that plays along. We have some plans.
“We are confident going into the series. A lot of the guys have played against the South African bowlers, familiarity can work for us as well but every day is a new day.”
The regional team also comprises of seasoned T20I players such as Chris Gayle, Dwayne Bravo, Andre Russell, Lendl Simmons, Jason Holder, Evin Lewis and vice-captain Nicholas Pooran.
Pollard said that the squad is made up several big-hitters, who he plans to use as the team’s focal point heading into the series.
“It’s no secret; our power-hitting ability. Being able to clear the boundaries and use our strength and our power. That’s our strength and we continue to harness our strengths and we continue to work on our weaknesses.
“In everything that you do, you try to improve and we are trying to improve as a team and as individuals. But we also know, in terms of timings, where you want to work on certain things,” he added.
He admitted that South Africa are also confident heading into this series. Several of their in-form bowlers have been included in the T20I team but Pollard has faith in his charges.
The 18-man team used the past ten days to prepare at a training camp in the Spice Isle. The all-rounder was pleased with his squad’s efforts and said the process and preparation done prior, augurs well for the team heading into the series.
Although South Africa have lost their last four T20I series, Pollard does not see this as a competitive advantage for the hosts.
“We are hoping that the preparation that we had for the last week is going to help us in good stead. Hopefully we can start the series well and go on to actually win the series. Hopefully going out and playing and executing the things that we know what we should be doing.
“They (South Africa) are confident because some of the guys might have played in that Test series. We are already starting on the back foot as well so that’s fine. We’re just looking forward to play good cricket and trying to improve on what we started in that last series against Sri Lanka,” he said.
The title-winning Caribbean Premier League captain wants his players to remain as calm as possible and forget about the Test series loss.
Notably omitted from the team however, was Guyanese batsman Shimron Hetmyer. Pollard spoke briefly on his Hetmyer’s recent form in the camp, prior to the team being announced by Cricket West Indies on Friday.
He said the top-order batsman has been heeding advice from the more experienced players and is working on his craft to be become a better all-round player.
“We know some of his goals and some of the things he wants to achieve as well. We are always willing and ready to help him in that aspect. In anything that you do, you need to want it more than anything else. The camaraderie has been fantastic and it’s just a matter of getting opportunities and him coming out and showing what he’s made of,” Pollard said.
The skipper is looking forward to bring back the energy and winning momentum to the maroon. Understanding what is required and going out and executing on the field is the game plan.
Although several of the players have tasted T20 franchise success at several tournaments around the world, Pollard wants the same passion and drive to improve the team’s chances of securing victory.
“It’s just about having the guys pumped up. We want to be successful as a maroon outfit. The start of that Sri Lanka series, the character showed. Hopefully we can build on that and string some win together so we could have that confidence going into the World Cup stage,” he said.

West Indies squad: Kieron Pollard (captain), Nicholas Pooran (vice-captain), Fabian Allen, Dwayne Bravo, Fidel Edwards, Andre Fletcher, Chris Gayle, Jason Holder, Evin Lewis, Obed McCoy, Andre Russell, Lendl Simmons, Kevin Sinclair.
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