'Upbeat West Indies Test side not impacted by bad results'

Abu Dhabi, Oct 23 (IANS) West Indies batting coach Toby Radford has dismissed suggestions that the wretched results in the preceding limited overs series may be having a negative impact on the Test unit.

Rather, the Englishman said the Jason Holder-led squad was full of self-belief and their confidence has been further bolstered by the first Test performance in Dubai where they pushed Pakistan into the final hour of the last day, before conceding defeat by 56 runs, reports CMC.

"There have been three different squads in three different competitions and as we know, the T20 and the 50-overs didn't go particularly well," Radford said.

"This has been almost a totally new bunch of players who've been very positive since they came. We had a good build-up to this tour - two weeks preparation in Dubai to get used to the weather, lots of good practice and a very positive upbeat team."

The West Indies have so far failed to win a single game on tour, suffering embarrassing 3-0 whitewashes in the T20 and the One-Day series.

And the poor run seemed set to continue in the day/night opening Test when Pakistan piled up a massive 579 for three declared in their first innings.

However, the West Indies turned in two decent batting performances and a clinical bowling performance to stun Pakistan, transforming the game into a real contest before wilting in the end.

"They were disappointed that we lost last week but at the end, I think they believed how well they played and to take it to the fifth day, we could have won that game," Radford said.

"So there is a lot of positivity here and a lot of energy here and they want to put in another good performance over these next four or five days [in the second Test]."

The West Indies were carried by Darren Bravo who made 87 and 116 - his eighth Test hundred - and veteran Marlon Samuels who got a first innings half-century.

However, Radford pointed out that the current weakness of the West Indies was the fact that they were an inexperienced side, especially in comparison to Pakistan.

"I think at the moment, we probably lack a little bit of experience. It's a young side with a couple of wise heads and you compare that to Pakistan who've got guys that have played hundreds of Tests all over the world," he added.

The West Indies are currently locked in battle with Pakistan in the second Test here.

--IANS

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