West Indies skipper Shai Hope wants his team to take up the opportunity to bounce back after his team fails to qualify for the ODI World Cup later this year in India. The two-time Champions West Indies will not feature in the ODI World Cup for the first time in 48 years, since the launch of the marquee event back in 1975.
West Indies team has struggled in recent years, as they could not perform well in the bilateral series and ICC events, as the two-time T20 champions failed to qualify for the Super 12 of the 2022 T20 World Cup, and the team will also not be part of the 2023 ODI World Cup.
Speaking to the media ahead of the game against India, Shai Hope believes that it opportunity for them to bounce back after the loss in the test series, as they want to showcase their skillset against the mighty Indian team in their home and admitted that they have certain thing to address going forward in cricket.
“It’s an opportunity for us to bounce back. It’s a different format and another opportunity for us to showcase our skills and show the world what we can do. We know the Zimbabwe (World Cup Qualifiers) stint is in the past. There are certain things we need to address and now is a good start to do so,” Shai Hope said.
Shai Hope’s led side suffered a shocking defeat by seven wickets to Scotland in a Super Six match of the qualifier, to crash out of the race to qualify for the upcoming 50-over World Cup in India. The Men in Maroon lost a close game against the Netherlands in the Super Over before losing to the home team Zimbabwe.
Our Plans We Have In Place, As Long As We Execute Them… – Shai Hope
Shai Hope revealed that they have long team goals in place to develop the team going forward and admitted that they can’t win the game every day but is confident of his team’s chance on their given day and the Men in Maroon last won their game against India in 2019 with their last series win coming in almost 17 years ago.
“Anytime we cross that line the aim is to win we know that we can’t always win but everything we do is geared towards that victory at the end of the day. Our plans we have in place, as long as we execute them, I’m sure that we’re going to get some victory,” Shai Hope added.
The West Indies skipper will look to inspire his team going into the three-match ODI series against the Indian team, as they will look to pull some upset in the home series against India this could be a big morale boost for the team going into their rebuilding phase in cricket.