LONDON – New One-Day International captain Dwayne Bravo says West Indies will be going all out for a winning start when they meet Pakistan in their first Group ‘B’ encounter of the ICC Champions Trophy today.
The West Indies skipper made his intentions known as the Caribbean side ended a full training session at the Oval yesterday.
“We are really excited about the tournament on the whole. Our aim is to get off to a good start,” Bravo said.
“That is the most important thing in a short tournament like this – to try to win the first game. It’s a very good team we’re coming up against and we have to play our best cricket in order to be successful.”
West Indies’ preparation for the Champions Trophy began with a one-week training camp in Barbados and included two warm-up matches against Sri Lanka and Australia.
Bravo’s men defeated the Sri Lankans by 17 runs after losing to Australia.
“We are really looking forward to it. I just can’t wait to get the first game out of the way,” said the 29-year-old all-rounder.
“It’s my first time as captain in a major tournament as this. I have a very good team and good players and I’m looking forward to leading the guys out on the park.”
Bravo has been a crucial member of the West Indies team with both bat and ball since his debut back in 2004.
That year he was a member of the side which won the ICC Champions Trophy with a superb victory over England in the final.
He was also a vital member of the team which won the ICC World T20 in Sri Lanka as he celebrated his 29th birthday.
“We’re going to try to make sure that we have the best batting line-up to try to counter their bowling attack. We have the best batsmen in the world, so they’ll be aware of that also,” the captain said.
“It should be a very good game. If both teams actually turn up on this day, it will be a cracker of a game and hopefully it will be good for the fans.”
The match starts at 10:30 a.m (5:30 a.m East Caribbean time). (CMC)
