2 March 2021 12:10 am
Simmons is hopeful of zeroing in on the 15 or 16 players that West Indies can take to India for the showpiece event, by the time they face Australia in T20Is in July.
“We need to start seeing how the make-up of our team goes,” Simmons said. “We need to make sure people are able to do the job that we want them to do, whether it is at the top of the batting order, the middle, or the end. And it is the same with bowling. We’ve got to identify as soon as possible who’s going to bowl our new ball and who’s going to bowl at the death and so it starts from now.
“When it comes to July or maybe the beginning of August, maybe the Pakistan series, we want to know exactly what the combinations are that we need to take to the World Cup because we have a fair idea of how the Indian grounds are what we are taking there. By the time we are playing Australia in some T20s in July, we must know who is our final 15 or 16.” West Indies go in the three match T20I series ith the experience of Chris Gayle in tow to go to the World Cup.
The 41-year-old has been drafted into the national side on the basis of returns in the second half of IPL 2020, as he scored 288 runs in seven games at an average of 41.14 and a strike rate of 137.14. He also made a flying start to his CPL 2021 campaign, scoring 39 (24) and 68 (40) before being summoned for national duty. At the other end of the line-up Fidel Edwards has been roped in.
“We see what Chris Gayle did in his last IPL stint. He shows that both with the bat and on the field, he looks fitter and feels better and he is still hitting the ball as we want to see him do it.
“We’ve seen Fidel in the last CPL and we have seen that he can still muster over 90mph with his searing yorkers, both at the top end and at the back end of the innings, so it is great to have the two of them with us.” (Cricbuzz)