The concept of West Indies being the “bigger team” in the upcoming contest against Nepal has been banished and the two-time world champions will approach Sunday’s all-important match like any other.
Left-arm spinner Akeal Hosein has promised that the Group C leaders will not drop their guard when they come up against the lower-ranked Nepalese in their crucial ICC Men’s T20 World Cup contest at the Wankhede Stadium. Play starts at 11am local time (1:30am Barbados Time).
The Windies have been dominant in their two wins over Scotland and England and another victory over Nepal will book their spot in the Super Eights second round phase of the tournament and also pick up another US$32,000 in prize money.
Hosein spoke to the media at Saturday’s pre-match press conference and was reminded that Nepal cannot be taken lightly.
He was captain last September when an under-strength West Indies side lost 2-1 to Nepal in a three-match series in Sharjah.
“…It’s no big team or no small team. At the end of the day, it’s who plays the best cricket on the day, and like I keep saying, that’s how we’re going to treat it. I think you could see from the start of the tournament in the first round, most of the so-called bigger teams were in a spot of bother, so in this World Cup it’s not one to take anyone lightly,” Hosein said.
“Preparation is going to be the same, mindset is going to be the same, and it’s just about executing. At the end of the day, it’s a World Cup and these teams had to do what they had to do to get to the World Cup, so it’s not about taking anyone for granted. It’s about going out there and playing another cricket match against our opposition, not so much coming up against a name,” Hosein said.
After Sunday’s match the West Indies will travel from Mumbai back to Kolkata for the final preliminary round match against new-comers Italy.
This will be played on Wednesday morning (1:30am Barbados Time). (PS)
