West Iindies will want to quickly put the first of their two Tests against India behind them. After conceding 649/9 in almost 150 overs, they were bowled out twice in less than 100 overs to lose by an innings and 272 runs, their second-heaviest Test defeat of all time.
Stand-in Windies captain Kraigg Brathwaite said that it wasn’t a team plan to go out all guns blazing. Instead, he pinpointed his batsmen’s lack of faith in their defensive techniques as the reason why the kept going for the big shot.
“[It’s a] personal plan, in terms of attacking shots,” he said. “Some of the shots from the batsmen weren’t the best. We have a lot to work on. Going forward what we need to do is along with the attacking shots, trust in defence. I think that’s the key.”
“Obviously, when the field goes back, it’s a matter of still saying positive in defence and putting away the bad balls, stroking the ball along the ground for singles,” he said. “I just think we didn’t trust our defence as much as we should have.
“It’s just about trusting your plans. I think today we were a lot more positive but we still didn’t get the big partnerships. So I think going forward, a balance of defence and attack, I think once we can do that and build partnerships, we will be good.”
