PUNE, India, CMC – West Indies head coach Stuart Law has praised his side’s batting performance in the One Day International (ODI) series against India, saying that the home side has been forced to bring back their two best bowlers in Jasprit Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar Kumar for the third ODI which begins here today.
Law, who is returning from a two-match ban following a breach of the ICC Code of Conduct, said it was a good sign that the Windies’ batsmen had been able to “manufacture” changes in the Indian bowling lineup, following two successive scores of over 320 by the visitors.
“Yeah I would like to think so (on their comeback). That’s probably the reason why they’ve called back their two most experienced One-Day bowlers. To our credit, we haven’t shied away from it,” Law said on the eve of the third ODI.
“So yeah, hopefully we are getting the Indians to ask questions to themselves. They are giving us plenty of questions to ask ourselves but at this stage, we are coming up with pretty good answers.
The outgoing head coach also heaped praise on young batsmen Shimron Hetmyer and Shai Hope, who he said had been bright sparks in a relatively inexperienced West Indies unit. “Hetmyer has been outstanding. (Shai) Hope got a hundred in the second game, all in all for an inexperienced side, that we have, they can hold their heads very high,” said Law.
However, Law admitted that formulating a plan to limit Indian captain Virat Kohli, who has scored two consecutive centuries in the first two ODIs, was proving to be a headache.
He said it was important for the Windies to take any chance which he offered.
“How do you get Virat out? He gave us chance at 40. He is a wonderful player. I just love the way he goes about compiling an innings. Looks like he is working very hard but he’s doing it very easy. So we do have plans for him.
“At the moment, he is coming up a lot of good answers, so we have to just keep asking questions about his technique and his abilities. In the end, he is only human. But when we get an opportunity, we have got to grab hold of it,” Law maintained.
