It has been a series of high and lows for the West Indies cricket team recently. After winning their third One-Day International against India on Monday 5th December, the team lost to India in the subsequent fourth and fifth ODIs, losing the overall Series. West Indies wicketkeeper, Denesh Ramdin, spoke exclusively to www.digicelcricket.com about his feelings on facing India, his recent appointment as Captain of the Trinidad and Tobago national cricket team and his hopes for 2012.
It’s been a week of extremes for the West Indies team; how are you feeling after losing the Series?
“I am obviously very disappointed – after our encouraging win in the third ODI, the final two losses meant we lost the Series, which is a big blow. We played decently, but India is an incredibly tough team to face, and we always knew that would be the case, and unfortunately, we weren’t able to rise above that.”
Last month, you were announced as the new Captain of Trinidad and Tobago’s national team? What are expecting in your new role?
“I am very pleased and confident about taking over the leadership of the team; I know it will involve a lot of work and effort, but it will be worth it. I have some experience of leadership from when I captained the Under 19’s West Indies team, so hopefully I can bring that to the table and help the Trinidad and Tobago team reach an international level. I’ll be captaining the team during the Caribbean Twenty20 series early next year, and as the reigning champions, we’ll be looking to stay on top and play on our best. You can’t take it lightly just because we won last time: we have to be on great form and stay focused.”
How do you feel 2011 has been for the West Indies team? What are you hoping for from 2012?
“Things haven’t gone too badly as a team, but I do feel we could have been more consistent and performed better as a whole. Looking ahead to 2012, we will be trying to maintain our competitive spirit. The West Indies is hosting Australia then New Zealand in the Digicel Series, and in between, we’ll be facing England away; they are obviously one of the best teams in the world, so we will have to be ready for that and we’ll need to perform well under pressure.”
Now the Series is over, how does it feel to be heading home?
“We’ve been away for three-and-a-half months now, which is a long time. I am definitely looking forward to heading back to Trinidad and Tobago, and to having a relaxing break before the New Year.”
Digicel, proud sponsor of West Indies Cricket, sponsored the live radio coverage for all games in the West Indies Away Series against Bangladesh and India through its partnership with regional network broadcaster, Line & Length.
Thanks to Digicel’s sponsorship, Line & Length Network provided regional supporters with live ball-by-ball radio broadcasts of the away Series. In addition, the Regional Super50 tournament in Guyana was also aired on radio stations in the Caribbean.
The West Indies’ tour of Bangladesh, which included two Tests, three One-Day Internationals and one Twenty20, ran from Tuesday 11th October to Thursday 3rd November 2011, while the India Series which followed immediately after included three Tests and five One-Day Internationals and finished on Sunday 11th December 2011.