Newly-appointed West Indies 50-over vice-captain, Sunil Ambris, has acknowledged his side’s inexperience but is banking on talent to get the job done in Bangladesh.
The vice-captain, who is set to join captain Jason Mohammed and lead West Indies in three matches spoke to the media via Zoom yesterday.
“I think we have a very inexperienced team, batting team that is, but having said that, I think we have a very talented bunch, a bunch of guys who, once they stick to what they know, will turn out okay in this series.”
With Hayden Walsh Jr., being ruled out of the series due to a positive COVID-19 test, only five of the 14-man squad have any experience playing One Day Internationals.
Rovman Powell is the most capped player with 34 matches under his belt while Mohamed and Alzarri Joseph have played 28 matches each. Ambris has so far featured in 13 matches while Raymon Reifer has appeared twice.
Nevertheless, the players have been in and around the Regional set up for a number of years.
“The mindset remains the same, try and encourage the not younger but less experienced guys and as I said before just play positive cricket,” says Ambris.
The 27-year-old broke down the equation to simply, playing hard and smart cricket in order to come out on top.
“I think it’s for the guys to stick to what they know. I mean a lot of the guys are new to international cricket but try not to think too much about it. It’s the same cricket, just play hard and smart cricket and I think we will be okay,” he stated.
He declared that he was excited to take on the leadership role but admitted he never saw it coming. However, the Vincentian right-hander, believes his longstanding relationship with the captain, could spark a fruitful series.
“Yes, I have played with and against him [Mohamed] for a number of years. He has been my captain in A-team series tours before and we have a very good relationship. He was here when I just got here,” Ambris noted while adding that the duo has not yet gotten to sitting down and having a chat since arriving.
In addition to his excitement at his new role, Ambris admitted that this was the first time he is confident of being in the starting XI and wants to use this opportunity to cement his place for future tours.
He pointed out that scores of around 240, 250 or 270 would be good enough to defend adding that he has already issued a declaration that he intends to score heavily this series.
“I am looking to score. I would love to get at least one hundred out of these three games, “ he said.
“I think that would do me a lot of good,” Ambris, who has a personal best of 148 and averages 44 added.
Having already taken a liking to Bangladesh, Ambris said that he believes the conditions will not make it as easy to score as in their previous encounters over in Ireland back in 2019, suggesting that he feels it will call for a little more grinding.
The first match is set for January 20 in Dhaka with the second bowling off two days later at the same venue. The sides will then travel to Chattogram for the third and final match of the limited overs series on January 25.
