West Indies not carried away by World T20 warm-up showing

Mirpur (Bangladesh), March 20 (IANS/CMC) All-rounder Dwayne Bravo says defending champions West Indies would not get carried away by their streak of wins leading into the World T20 in Bangladesh.

The West Indies registered convincing wins over Sri Lanka Wednesday and England Tuesday, in warm-up matches, as they prepare for the tournament which begins in earnest this weekend.

Bravo says his team is eager to successfully defend the title which he believes is possible based on current form.

“We come here to defend our title. We are not going to get too ahead of our self or get arrogant about it,” said Bravo Wednesday night.

“But at the same time we are playing good cricket but as long as we continue to show good form we fancy our chance to defend it.”

The Caribbean cricketers will start as one of the favourites, placed in a tough Group B that includes India, Australia and Pakistan.

It was far from smooth sailing for Darren Sammy’s men through the early phrases of the last T20 World Cup until they found form in the semi-finals.

“To me this one is harder because there are fewer games,” said Bravo.

“It’s a very tough group and it’s the top two teams that will qualify for the semis.”

The West Indies have also impressed in their recent series triumph over England winning two of the three matches convincingly and suffering a narrow defeat in the third.

Bravo says he is encouraged by the total team effort being displayed in recent wins.

“But it’s a lot of hard work, shorter tournament, different conditions,” he pointed out.

“We look forward to the challenges and it’s nice to see Chris Gayle among the runs again and Dwayne smith playing his part. So everyone is chipping in, (Krishmar) Santokie also as well playing a big role.”

The West Indies start their campaign against India Sunday.

–IANS/CMC

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