BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, CMC – West Indies fast bowler Kemar Roach believes the regional side’s Twenty20 World Cup triumph will be a huge boost for them heading into next month’s Bangladesh.
The Windies captured the T20 title in Sri Lanka earlier this month, when they beat the hosts by 36 runs in a pulsating final in Colombo.
They leave the Caribbean next weekend for Dhaka for a series comprising two Tests, five One-Day Internationals and a single T20.
“The players are very confident following that success. It’s good to be around them right now. It’s been very inspirational and they are talking stuff that is very useful to me,” said Roach who was not a member of the successful side.
“I’m glad to be around them at this time – I’m always glad to be around them – but at this time, it’s even better now we have had that bit of success, so we are looking to go forward now and move on from strength to strength.”
The squad has gathered here for a preparatory camp before their departure next week for the November 8 to December 10 tour.
But despite the confidence in the side, Roach pointed out that the tour would be a challenging one and stressed the Windies needed to settle down quickly and adjust to conditions.
“Bangladesh is a tough place to play the game, so we will go there and quickly assess the conditions, and try to adapt as quickly as possible to give it our best shot,” he noted.
Roach last played for West Indies back in August on New Zealand’s tour of the Caribbean, when the hosts won all three formats handily.
Though he missed out on the World T20 tour, Roach said he had remained fit and was looking forward to getting back to top flight action.
“I’m glad to be involved with the West Indies team again and I am hoping that some of the work I did for my club I can bring it into my bowling for West Indies on this tour,” said the 24-year-old strike bowler.
“The coach has been doing a lot of work with me and we have had a lot of good chats about bowling. The work has paid off. I’ve gotten a lot of wickets, a few Man-of-the-Match and Man-of-the-Series awards.
“The ICC [the sport’s World governing body] has me at No.10 in the Test rankings and I am very confident in my game right now. My aim now is to try to become the No.1 bowler in the World in the not-too-distant future.”
