Hope: We’re committed to performing on the biggest stage

West Indies captain Shai Hope has given the assurance that his team is fully locked in as they bid to lift the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup for an unprecedented third time.

The Windies ended the preliminary rounds with an unbeaten record after dismissing Italy by 42 runs on Thursday to finish top of Group C with a maximum eight points from their four matches.

Speaking at a post-match press conference, Hope, who was named Player-of-the-Match after top scoring with 75 off 46 balls, said each player had embraced his respective role and was committed to doing what was necessary for the team to be successful.

He said there was an aura that permeated the camp, pointing out that everyone was on the same page as they headed into the Super Eights where they will face Zimbabwe, South Africa and India.

“There’s a different level of enthusiasm and focus when it comes to a World Cup. This is a big tournament, this is the biggest stage and we all want to be there at the end.

“We know what it takes to get there and if you want to be the best team at the end of the tournament then you have to ensure that you’re doing the necessary things to give yourself the best chance of lifting that trophy,” Hope said.

“So the focus, the discipline, the clarity, the execution, the willingness to want to do the hard yards and go the extra yard for the team, all of those things have to come together as a collective, and as you can see from the outside and I can definitely tell you from within, I can feel it.

“We really want it and we’re just playing every single game day by day, not thinking too far ahead, staying in the present and whatever we need to do to try to win. That’s what we’re going to try and focus on every single time,” he added.

While admitting there were areas that needed to be improved, Hope said he was generally satisfied with the win over Italy.

He said it was important for them not to look too far ahead even though their focus was on winning the tournament.

“We’re just taking it one game at a time. We have to make sure we’re playing our best cricket regardless of the opposition we’re playing against. We saw the threat that Italy posed in the competition, so there were no stones left unturned here today.

“We played another good game of cricket, probably could improve on some areas, but I’m still happy with the way the guys are going and the momentum is going in the right direction,” Hope maintained.

“…There’s always some area that you can improve on in every single game. We can’t look too far ahead; we’re making sure that we focus on what is in front of us, not necessarily harping too much on the areas that we fell short in, just about giving the guys the confidence that they duly need, especially going into the crunch time of the tournament when you really need to be firing.

“But we also know that in any sport, everyone is not going to fire every single day. So especially in a team sport, the important thing is when one of your teammates is down, the other guys have to ensure that we pull them up and pull some slack for them. That’s the way how tournament play works, especially in a big tournament like this…” the skipper added. (CMC)

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