LONDON, England, CMC – West Indies batting ace Ramnaresh Sarwan has shrugged off his team’s below par performances in England on their current trip and declared the Caribbean side as positive ahead of the ICC World Twenty20 Championship.
The tournament starts today with hosts England facing The Netherlands and Sarwan believes the Windies, who open against Australia on Saturday at The Oval, are capable of doing well in the second edition of the WT20.
“Once we stick to the basics, I believe we should do well in this tournament,” he said yesterday.
“We are working hard and we will be aiming to deliver,” Sarwan added.
The West Indies will be counting on their experienced players to deliver big performances.
Sarwan is among the team leaders in experience. He knows the requirements of the game — having played at the first Twenty20 World Cup in South Africa two years ago as well as other major events.
Looking ahead to the tournament, Sarwan said the team was focused on the job at hand.
West Indies will play in Group C alongside Australia and Sri Lanka, who they tackle next Wednesday at Trent Bridge.
“We are in a tough group and we know we must go out and back ourselves to deliver. We have a good all-round team and we believe in ourselves,” he said.
Since arriving in England in April, the Windies have endured dismal form, losing both Test and One Day International (ODI) series against England. Their only victories on the entire trip so far have come in WT20 warm-up matches against little-rated Ireland and Scotland.
In their final tune-up for the WT20, they lost badly to England on Wednesday by nine wickets.
The 28-year-old Sarwan had some strong performances in Test cricket this year, making four centuries – including a career best 291 against England in Barbados.
He noted the aim was to transfer that form to the short version of the game.
“I have been playing well in Test cricket so I have the confidence. I will be looking to take that kind of form into this tournament. I have been working really hard on my batting and I am looking to get better and help the team every time I go to the crease,” he said.
WEST INDIES SQUAD – Chris Gayle (captain), Denesh Ramdin (vice captain/wicket-keeper), Andre Fletcher, Xavier Marshall, Lendl Simmons, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Shiv Chanderpaul, Dwayne Bravo, Kieron Pollard, David Bernard, Darren Sammy, Jerome Taylor, Sulieman Benn, Fidel Edwards, Lionel Baker.
