Ahmedabad: West Indies came here during the 2016 ICC Men's T20 World Cup and won the title despite all the issues back home. They came here again after many bilateral series losses and problems, but they know how to perform at the big stage. They always seem to be a threat at an ICC tournament in a way that they often are not in bilateral series.
"Our energy is great. The vibes are good within the team. Everybody's up for it. We came here to win cricket games," West Indies batting coach Floyd Reifer said ahead of the Super Eight match against South Africa here on Wednesday.
Almost written off before the tournament, the Caribbean side has already defeated favourites England and hammered Zimbabwe to give themselves a strong chance to make the semifinals. They are unbeaten in the tournament and have a power-packed batting line-up that can send nightmares in the opposition camp.
"There's no point to prove for us, and we came here like any other team to win the competition. A lot of people have us flying under the radar, but we plan every game to go in there with a positive mentality to win cricket games," Reifer added.
West Indies and South Africa both have big hitters in their teams to make an exciting match on a good red soil wicket, but Reifer isn't banking on big hits only but wants his batters to score in as many deliveries as possible.
"Both teams hit sixes, but yeah, once the wicket is good, then you expect a good batting performance from both of the teams. I think the main thing for us is trying to score as many balls as possible. Yes, we know we hit sixes, we hit fours, but for us is to score as many deliveries as possible," he said.
Reifer didn't see too much in South Africa, having the advantage of playing four out of five games here at Ahmedabad.
"Yeah, they have an advantage of playing most of their games at the same venue. But like I said, once we plan properly and execute our plans, then we will play a good game of cricket. So for us, we're not worried too much about the venues and who played there, who didn't play there. For us, no, it's just coming now and understanding what's needed to be done and execute," he added.
