VINODE MAMCHAN
West Indies captain Denesh Ramdin has praised his players for a great team effort which gave them their series whitewash of Bangladesh.
The West Indies won the Test series 2-0, with another thumping victory on Tuesday at the Beausejour Cricket Stadium in St Lucia. They also won the three-match limited overs series 3-0 and the lone T20 was washed out.
Ramdin singled out the batting of Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Kraigg Brathwaite saying: "Brathwaite and Chanderpaul stood out for the entire series. They really went out there and batted and batted and put the opposition out of the game. Really glad to have them on board. If they can continue this kind of service for us, we will be in a position to win many more matches.
"It feels amazing to win these matches, it gives you a lot of confidence. It was an all-around team effort and the boys must take credit for this.
"In this last match Brathwaite and Leon Johnson started well and then Kemar Roach just bowled beautifully. We just wanted to keep the run rate down and create opportunities for wickets and we did just that.
"We also tried to switch the bowlers around with the ends because bowling into the breeze was tough. It was a very good batting pitch but with the ball moving, we always had a chance."
Meanwhile run machine Chanderpaul had this to say: "Winning the Test match is the most important thing. That was our aim from the beginning. We just tried to get as much as we could in the first innings, and then see where we could go."
When asked about not being dismissed this series he said: "You can't think about getting out, you need to think about batting the next day, and hopefully I can maintain this as long as possible."
The Guyanese, who had scores of 85 not out, 84 not out and 101 not out in the series did not give any indication that he was ready to retire at the age of 40. "Let's see how far I can go," was his response.
Player of the series Brathwaite was thrilled at being part of the winning team. He said, "Coming here I had some confidence. I just wanted to keep that momentum going through the Tests. It was a great pitch, obviously first day it was doing a fair bit. It got a bit better batting later on."
Brathwaite got a double hundred (205 not out) in the first Test in St Vincent and a half century (63) in he second.
Looking ahead he said: "It is going to be a tough series against India but I know we have the guys to give them a challenge. Everybody is coming together and working hard and we are all just really enjoying the moment."