… Credits Kohli for advice on the method of batting
By Clifton Ross
LEADER West Indies Test batsman Jermaine Blackwood is giving his players full confidence ahead of the series bowling away in a matter of days, adding that some advice from Virat Kohli has helped him further immensely as a player .
The Jamaican, who topped the West Indies Test run charts during the 2020 plague, spoke almost following yesterday’s session, where he outlined that one key aspect of the Test encounter is pitch conditions, which proved to be the Windies undo at the International Day of the Day (ODI Series).
“These types of surfaces are very slow so I have to be mentally ready, because technically I can’t do too much work at the moment. But mentally I know it will be very slow and it will spin. Once mentally I’m ready, I’m good. Then everything takes care of itself, ”said the batsman.
A top performer in the Test series against England, New Zealand and now with scenes set on Bangladesh, he has been the most consistent batsman in scoring and conversion from the fifties to hundreds.
Outside of natural talent, Blackwood credited some conversations with India’s Kohli skipper who gave him some good advice on improving his game as a batsman and player in general, a huge plus heading into such a series that we really need Caribbean side won.
“I don’t really have many conversations with international players. I spoke to Virat Kohli a few times as well, on social media. The last time India went on a tour of the Caribbean, I had a chance to talk to him in Jamaica when I was there subbing. So after the game, I just had a small talk. ”
He continued, “I asked him how I have many half centuries and one century all the time. New said, what are you going to do when you score a century. How many deliveries did you face, I said I faced 212 balls. He said that’s it. Once you can bat some balls, you’re going to score runs, ”explained Blackwood.
The loss of the 3-dim ODI series has put some pressure on the tourists, especially after their young side failed. More so, Blackwood said it does not intend to change its approach; highlighting the intensive training the team has been undertaking prior to the Test series. “I’m not going to really change my role. For the last two series, I’ve been scoring runs. My goal is to keep scoring runs, and just win a few more games for the team. I think this unit is a good one ”. He also said it was important to have some confidence in some of his older players that could potentially affect the series with the bat. “I can see hunger. We have been training really hard for the last few weeks. I can see that we’re trying new things, and they work quite well. I have full confidence in this mating unit to do the job. “John Campbell, Kraigg Brathwaite, young Moseley, myself and Josh – I think, a decent line. Once we can stick to our game plan, I don’t see why we can’t post some good totals, ”. Blackwood ended.