Barbados cricketer Hope criticizes pitch at Kensington Oval

Bridgetown, Barbados: Barbadian cricketer Shai Hope criticized the pitch used for the first One Day International (ODI) between the West Indies and India at Kensington Oval on Thursday, according to the recent update by Cricket360.

The West Indies were bowled for a meagre 114 in 23 overs their second-lowest total in an ODI match against India on a lively pitch and suffered an embarrassing five-wicket defeat at the hands of the Indians.

Hope leading the regional team for the first time on Caribbean soil said the pitch was “unpredictable and not easy to bat on”.

“Some balls were bouncing while others were keeping low and the spinners got a lot of grip Kuldeep (Yadav) bowled well, Ravindra (Jadeja) as well but obviously the pitch would have assisted them in getting those wickets,” the West Indies captain said.

“The conditions that we are continuously playing in are going to make it challenging for the batters. There are some pitches that when you go out there you know that you can put 300 runs on the board but here (Kensington Oval), you never know what you are going to get,” the West Indies captain added.

Hope said when Jadeja was bowling the ball was gripping and turning at the same time. The skipper said the West Indies preparation required improvement, according to the update.

“The preparation needs a little bit more focus. I believe batting is confidence, and as a batter, if you don’t have that confidence going into a game, then you are expected to fail. Our preparation needs to improve a bit more, we need to find ways to score more runs and click more consistently as a batting group,” Hope said