Debasis Sen, Dubai: West Indies coach Stuart Law on Sunday shared his disappointment of not being able to travel to India early ahead of their forthcoming tour which starts next month. Law is currently in Dubai with the team, preparing at the ICC academy here.
“We tried to go to India early but there weren’t any places available for us. So we decided to come and train at the ICC academy here in Dubai where we can get similar conditions that we will witness in India.It would have been nice to be in India, but it is what it is. We are here trying to make the most of what we got,” said Law to Xtra Time at the sidelines of his team training session at the ICC Academy.
The Caribbean players are just coming back from Caribbean Premier League (CPL). In a bid to get used to red ball cricket the Windies cricketers have assembled here. Just six days after the Asia Cup final, India will meet West Indies in the first test at Rajkot.
“It is very challenging for any cricketer to go and play in India. Not many teams go to India and beat India. So regardless of the inexperience of our side I am just excited with the challenge.By no stretch of imagination, we are going to fill in the numbers. Since I have taken over I have seen tremendous fighting spirit in this group and it will be the same,” said Law.
West Indies will be travelling to India after successful series against Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. According to Law, “I think we have improved a lot in test match cricket recently. We had great results against Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. We are looking to build on that.”
On being asked about the challenges his bowlers will face bowling against the likes of Virat Kohli, Law said, “It will always be a challenge to bowl at Virat (Kohli) . You also have half a dozen quality batsmen in India’s batting line up to deal with. I really hope he turns up and plays good cricket because even though he will be in the opposition camp he is one hell of a player to watch. I really do enjoy watching him play. However if he doesn’t score the runs he is capable of, we will be more happy. Most of our players played him before back home. It’s different this time in his own backyard. Hopefully we can upset him with a few plans we throw at him. As I said we got extreme pace and good spin variation.”
Lastly talking about the unavailability of star players like Chris Gayle and Andre Russell,the Windies coach said, “Well one thing you have to understand is we have to respect a player’s wish. Chris Gayle is one of the greatest T20 players. Before he played the shorter format he has also played 100 test matches. Look, I think those days are gone. Talking to those players, they play so much cricket in different parts of the world and their bodies have started taking its toll. The guy you just mentioned, Andre Russell gives his 120 percent every time on the field. And tomaintain that same intensity across all formats is pretty tough considering the workload and type of player he is. It is what it is as we can’t convince players. If they don’t want to play a certain format there is no point forcing them,” signed off Law.