kemar roach, saeed ajmal, vernon philander, west indies' tour of bangladesh, west indies bangladesh test series, west indies bangladesh,
Roach is tied with three other players as the second-most successful bowler in Tests this year. -Photo by AFP

Roach is tied with three other players as the second-most successful bowler in Tests this year. -Photo by AFP

BRIDGETOWN: West Indies fast bowler Kemar Roach hopes the feelgood factor of being World Twenty20 champions will rub off on him on the tour of Bangladesh after he was overlooked for the recent triumph in Sri Lanka.

“The players are very confident following that success,” Roach said.

“It's good to be around them right now. It's been very inspirational and they are talking stuff that is very useful to me.

“I'm glad to be around them at this time -- I'm always glad to be around them -- but at this time, it's even better now we have had that bit of success, so we are looking to go forward now and move on from strength to strength.”

Roach was not a member of the World Twenty20 squad that prevailed over hosts Sri Lanka to win the tournament, the first major title West Indies have won since they lifted the ICC Champions Trophy eight years ago in England.

He has however, kept himself in shape, playing matches for his club in his native Barbados.

“I'm glad to be involved with the West Indies team again and I am hoping that some of the work I did for my club I can bring it into my bowling for West Indies on this tour.”

Roach is tied with three other players as the second-most successful bowler in Tests this year.

He and South African seamer Vernon Philander, along with off-spinners Saeed Ajmal of Pakistan and Graeme Swann of England have all snared 39 wickets.

Each of the West Indies fast bowler's scalps have come at 22.25 runs apiece in the seven Tests that he has played.

Only England fast bowler Stuart Broad with 40 at 27.77 in nine Tests has more wickets. Roach prasied the work of West Indies coach Ottis Gibson in his improvement and was looking forward to reaping more success on the forthcoming tour.

“The coach has been doing a lot of work with me and we have had a lot of good chats about bowling. The work has paid off. I've gotten a lot of wickets, a few man-of-the-match and man-of-the-series awards.” he said.

“The ICC has me at No.10 in the Test rankings and I am very confident in my game right now. My aim now is to try to become the No.1 bowler in the world in the not-too-distant future.”

West Indies face Bangladesh in two Tests from November 13-17 at the Sher-e-Bangla Stadium in Dhaka, and from November 21-25 at the Sheikh Abu Naser Stadium in the south-western city of Khulna.

The Tests will be followed by five one-day internationals and a Twenty20 international.

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