India vs West Indies 2016: Phil Simmons cites a lack of patience as reason for West Indies' inconsistency

West Indies’ head coach Phil Simmons feels that they have been inconsistent in the recently concluded Test series against India which they lost 0-2 with hardly any play in the last encounter. The fourth and final Test scheduled at the Queens Park Oval in Trinidad and Tobago was disrupted on Day 1 due to rain and play never resumed after that. Though the weather improved in the following days, yet poor ground conditions and drainage systems prevented further action. With no ray of hope on the fifth day, both the captains shook hands and the match was drawn. This is India’s first series win outside the sub-continent under the leadership of Virat Kohli.

In the post-match conference, Phil Simmons revealed that the hosts played good cricket in patches while lost their way in between. As quoted by Wisden he said, “I think the series was a little bit too up and down. We played well across two-three hours sometimes, and the next two hours we were down. I think that, for me, was the major disappointment. We showed that we can do things but not consistently enough. We batted well in Jamaica, but we went and did the same things in the first and third test. For that, it's disappointing that we weren't consistent enough.”

Lack of patience is the root cause of inconsistent performance of the present West Indies squad. The mentality and the approach towards the game should be a lot different along with the proper technique. “I think in some cases you have to adjust techniques. It's something that we should be doing at a level below. The same thing with mentality because when we come up here it's a lot harder to get runs and wickets”.

Simmons further added, “I think at our domestic level, it's a lot easier, that patience and time at the crease, if we bat two sessions in a domestic game most of the guys playing here would have a hundred or more. But if you bat two sessions here, it might be 60 or 70. The patience at the domestic level is not tested as much up here”.

Throughout the Test series we have seen that the matches were played in front of empty stands, which is a serious concern for the future of the game. But the West Indies boss feels that the players can’t do much about it and they have to market the product well from the next time.

India and West Indies are scheduled to play two T20 Internationals in the United States of America in a few days’ time.