The West Indians are indeed upbeat following their crushing 215-run win over the Netherlands on Monday. Having arrived in Bangladesh after nine long years, they spent little time on Wednesday morning to get a feel of things first hand. They last played here in 2002!
The team had their nets at the facility adjoining the Sher-e-Bangla stadium and displayed it's customary body language; of being cool and confident during their three-hour session.
Attracting big time attention was the 22-year-old Kemar Roach, who took this World Cup's first hat-trick in his haul of 6 for 27 against the Dutch. The man, who also represented the Deccan Chargers in the IPL and one who loves to dance, now seems keen to make others dance to his tunes.
For someone, who had 15 wickets from 25 ODIs and now 7 from only two World Cup games, Roach made his intentions clear, when the team manager and former captain Richie Richardson brought him along to face the media. And the genuine paceman, who bowls at 145 kmph plus, was both quick and fiery. When told that the track here may not help the fast bowlers, he retorted - albeit in a cool fashion. "I haven't played here before but whatever the conditions, I only know that I've got a job to do. In fact, we all want to put up our best performance. This is the World Cup and we obviously are on a mission."
The bowler was poked again when someone reminded him that Bangladesh in fact are ranked higher than the West Indies in ODIs and he wasn't one to take it quietly. "Look, it's of little concern to us that who's ahead and who's behind. We only know that we are going to go out there and play cricket hard as we know it."
Endorsing Roach's statement was Richardson who warned that the West Indies' dominating days may be back again soon. "The glory days will be back soon," said the dashing batman of the 90s.
"I can never forget those days when we dominated the world. Every team has its up and downs, but I am confident we will get there because we are on the right path," added the manager.
Dismissing ideas of a Bangla roar, Richardson said, "We know Bangladesh have proved to be a good side in recent years, but there is no reason why we can't match anything they have to offer."
The team had their nets at the facility adjoining the Sher-e-Bangla stadium and displayed it's customary body language; of being cool and confident during their three-hour session.
Attracting big time attention was the 22-year-old Kemar Roach, who took this World Cup's first hat-trick in his haul of 6 for 27 against the Dutch. The man, who also represented the Deccan Chargers in the IPL and one who loves to dance, now seems keen to make others dance to his tunes.
For someone, who had 15 wickets from 25 ODIs and now 7 from only two World Cup games, Roach made his intentions clear, when the team manager and former captain Richie Richardson brought him along to face the media. And the genuine paceman, who bowls at 145 kmph plus, was both quick and fiery. When told that the track here may not help the fast bowlers, he retorted - albeit in a cool fashion. "I haven't played here before but whatever the conditions, I only know that I've got a job to do. In fact, we all want to put up our best performance. This is the World Cup and we obviously are on a mission."
The bowler was poked again when someone reminded him that Bangladesh in fact are ranked higher than the West Indies in ODIs and he wasn't one to take it quietly. "Look, it's of little concern to us that who's ahead and who's behind. We only know that we are going to go out there and play cricket hard as we know it."
Endorsing Roach's statement was Richardson who warned that the West Indies' dominating days may be back again soon. "The glory days will be back soon," said the dashing batman of the 90s.
"I can never forget those days when we dominated the world. Every team has its up and downs, but I am confident we will get there because we are on the right path," added the manager.
Dismissing ideas of a Bangla roar, Richardson said, "We know Bangladesh have proved to be a good side in recent years, but there is no reason why we can't match anything they have to offer."
