“We need to stop losing wickets”- Phil Simmons feels West Indies will learn a lesson after 1-4 loss to Team India

West Indies suffered a 1-4 bashing against Team India in the recently concluded five-match T20I series. They lost their fifth and final T20I by 88 runs on Sunday (August 7).

WI head coach Phil Simmons feels that the Men in Maroon need to learn an important lesson ahead of the T20I World Cup. He addressed the fact that the batting department is their weakest link.

West Indies batting was poor in the last two T20I in Florida as they were bowled out for 132 and 100 runs respectively. Speaking at the post-match press conference, here's what Simmons said as quoted by ESPNCricinfo:

"The main thing is we need to bat in a format. We need to be able to bat for the six overs [of the powerplay] and know how we are batting in that. We need to stop losing wickets and once we stop losing wickets, we're going to make big scores.”

He added:

“We have the players - Hetty [Hetmyer] showed he is back to form, we have Rovman [Powell], we have [Nicholas Pooran], who has done a little bit as we went on in the series, but nobody has been consistent throughout the series. So, I think that is what we need now - consistency and understanding the situation of the game and knowing how we play that."

Simmons further added that India are the best T20I team in the world. West Indies failed to put performances together in the bowling and batting departments.

He further stressed:

“We showed in glimpses that we are capable of competing - sometimes with the ball and sometimes with the bat. Probably, we never put everything together. That's the lesson we are going to take from this. We have to put everything together on the day to beat the top teams."

West Indies to play New Zealand in three-match T20I series ahead of T20 World Cup

Nicholas Pooran and Co will host New Zealand in a three-match T20I series starting August 11, before they announce their team for the T20 World Cup. West Indies will have to sort out their team combination and playing style.

Here’s what Simmons had to say about the T20I series against the Blackcaps.

"It's difficult. But I think we have three more matches [against New Zealand]. After that, we will sit down and make decisions as to who fits into the way we want to play. I think the three matches will be important for a lot of players as well as some players who will be rested. But, in general, after that, we will have to make a decision."