SHARJAH: Defending champions West Indies believe they can bounce back from their two consecutive Super 12 defeats when they clash against Bangladesh in their must-win Twenty20 World Cup match in Sharjah, batter Nicholas Pooran said on Thursday.

The two-time champions, who won the trophy in the shortest format of the game in 2012 and in 2016 when the last edition of the tournament was held, suffered heavy defeats by England and South Africa in their first two matches in Group 1.

West Indies find themselves at the bottom of the group, which also has teams like Sri Lanka and Australia, and with only two teams to progress to the semi-finals, another defeat will surely rule them out of contention.

It’s all a far cry from the joy of their sensational last-over win against England in the 2016 final in Kolkata.

West Indies’ opponents at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Friday are also in the same situation with Bangladesh going down to Sri Lanka and England in their Super 12 matches so far.

“I definitely think it’s a good opportunity for us to bounce back,” Pooran told reporters. “It’s just another game of cricket. Anyone can win. But... it’s a do-or-die game for us. And we believe that we’re going to be successful tomorrow [Friday].”

The West Indies side, teeming with power-hitters, have been let down by the batters in both their matches in Dubai with the team getting bundled out for 55 against England and managing a sub-par 143-8 against South Africa.

Sharjah’s shorter boundaries could be a welcome relief for them on Friday.

“We’re not sure how Sharjah is going to play on Friday. But our focus is not on the small boundaries, to be honest,” Pooran said, adding that the team’s batting lacked intent in the first two matches. “We just want to execute our skills. And once we can do that, then the results can take care of itself.

“If you can accept that we weren’t good on the first two games, I think as batsmen, as a team, we already accepted that we didn’t come to the party. And we’re looking forward to moving forward and hopefully we can do much better.”

Pooran, one of his team’s underperforming batters who so far has scores of one and 12, described Kieron Pollard as a ‘wonderful captain’.

“We have a wonderful captain. He knows what he’s doing,” the wicket-keeper/batter remarked. “Whatever he says goes, and we back him to make some really good decisions for us to be successful.”

Meanwhile, West Indies have called up former skipper Jason Holder to their squad after pacer Obed McCoy suffered a tournament-ending right leg injury in the defeat to England.

Holder, who has 199 West Indies caps including 27 T20I appearances to his name, was one of the permitted travelling reserves in the UAE.

The 29-year-old, who featured for Sunrisers Hyderabad in the recently concluded IPL in the UAE, will be available immediately for the Bangladesh clash.

“Jason Holder has been in the UAE for a while now and will fit quite well into the team unit,” said West Indies chief selector Roger Harper. “He is an experienced and knowledgeable cricketer who we know will be eager and excited to grab the opportunity.”

West Indies had earlier lost spinner Fabian Allen on the eve of the World Cup with an ankle injury and was replace by Akeal Hosein.

Published in Dawn, October 29th, 2021