IND vs WI: We Need To Continue Restricting And Getting Wicket, Only Way To Keep The Totals Low - Phil Simmons

West Indies head coach Phil Simmons insisted that a strong batting lineup like India will be looking to score big and the most important thing they can do is pick up wickets at regular intervals.

Ahead of the first ODI against India on Friday, Simmons was also wary about the necessity to build partnerships in the ODI format. Going hard too early will result in a failure to play out all of the 50 overs.

Recognizing the same, Simmons said one of the batters will have to stick around and play a big knock while the others ensure they don’t fall apart like nine pins.

“The main thing is how we bat our 50 overs we have to bat 50 overs and put our innings together and partnerships together. Somebody has to be looking to score a hundred and hold the team together. Batting-wise that is it. The bowling and the fielding has been improving daily,” Simmons was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo.

“We rank ourselves very highly on the fielding” – Phil Simmons

Having a youthful side at his disposal, Simmons said the fielding standards they have set are high but the bowling attack is where things need to be set in order.

“We rank ourselves very highly on the fielding. The bowling, we had couple of games on those wickets where people might say we should’ve gotten more wickets but the wicket got better every time we fielded because they had put out the second roller on it and it had dried out from earlier in the day.”

“So, the bowlers have been doing well and we have to continue restricting and getting wickets – that’s the only way we can keep totals low and continue to win games,” he also went on to mention.

The first of the 3 ODIs will be played on July 22, Friday, at the Queen’s Park Oval in Port of Spain, Trinidad.

Also Read – IND vs WI: ‘He Had 3 Bad Games And We Are Talking As If This Is His Last Chance. It’s A Little Unfair’: Rohan Gavaskar On India Star