Powell: WI to use time off to reset and refocus

KINGSTOWN, St Vincent (CMC):

Following a disappointing T20 International series loss to Bangladesh, West Indies T20 captain Rovman Powell believes the players must use the upcoming time off to recharge and properly prepare for 2025.

Bangladesh, who are ranked ninth in the world, swept the fourth-ranked Windies 3-0, to hand them their third successive T20I series defeat and second at home, following losses to Sri Lanka and England.

In an interview with reporters at the Arnos Vale ground on Thursday, Powell said after a stellar start to the year he was disappointed with the way in which the West Indies ended 2024.

He said with a lengthy layoff before their next T20 series against England in June, the team needed to do some introspection.

“All good things must come to an end, all bad things must come to an end also.

“It’s just disappointing that we’ve finished the year so badly as a T20 group, but when you look on the duration of the year, we have played some good T20 cricket, just not for long enough periods,” a visibly frustrated Powell said.

“The good thing is that we have some time off. When things are not going according to plan you want to back off just a little bit instead of keep pressing.

“We have four, five months off, you know if we use that time wisely and work on our game as individuals and we try to put it together collectively as a team then we should be OK,” the skipper added.

Despite the result, Powell said the future of T20 cricket in the region was bright.

He admitted that while the team had not performed to expectations, he said it was not due to a lack of talent.

“We still have a good crop of T20 cricketers in the region, it’s just for us to come together and sharpen what areas we need to work on.

“I think as a T20 group we will be OK, it’s just a tough loss, but those things do happen in the nature of the sport that we play,” Powell said.

“It’s been really an indifferent year. We started the year brilliantly. We have made some strides as a team, but to be honest, I think our last two or three T20 series those strides have been reduced in a sense that we haven’t done justice to ourselves as a T20 team in the last few series.”