West Indies all-rounder Carlos Brathwaite says India has a formidable batting line—up and the contest will be equally tough against the Indian spinners when the four-Test series begins at Antigua on July 21.
“Their batting line-up is undoubtedly one of the stronger batting line-ups in the world, home and away, and unfortunately or fortunately for us it a lot similar to India in the Caribbean,” Brathwaite was quoted as saying by the WICB website.
Brathwaite pointed out that the Caribbean side has made small strides in its last Test series against Australia and now needs to continue that upward progression in this series.
However, he feels that the West Indies pitches are a bit slower and requires a different attack.
“India attacks with spin while the Aussies attack with pace and it’s about us now being a little more patient. Spin has supposedly been our downfall for the last couple series or years and I think we have gotten better.''
“The coach (Phil Simmons) has done a very good job getting some of the batters in off-season and focusing on playing spin really well,” the 27-year-old said.
Brathwaite feels that patience will be a key in the coming series keeping in mind that India has a better batting line—up. West Indies has not won a Test match against India in 14 years and have lost eight of their last 15 encounters and drawn seven.
“It’s about us being patient as a team, patient as a bowling unit and as individuals not getting frustrating. We are up against one of the better batting units and you have to do what you have been doing in first class cricket over a long period of time,” said Brathwaite, who made his Test debut against Australia last year.
“It’s just a matter of us having a few options to each delivery, being patient and ultimately, playing the waiting game. I think whoever plays the patient game better will come out on top in the series.”
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