West Indies T20 captain Kieron Pollard on Thursday said young cricketers in his country need to be protected from “vultures of the game” when they are initiated into international cricket.
West Indies have opted for some young players in their 15-member team for the limited overs series and Pollard said they need to be given enough opportunity to showcase their talent.
“They (Brandon King and Keserick Williams) have been pretty good. It’s good that we have young guys coming in from the Caribbean Premier League (CPL). They are excited to represent West Indies. But the problem is, we as individuals try to judge people too quickly,” Pollard said during pre-match conference.
“We need to have patience. At the end of the day we need results but sometimes you have to be honest with yourself. We look forward to these talents showing the world what they can do. Sometime you need to have umbrella over them and protect them from the vultures out there to pull them down,” he added.
Youngsters like Brandon King, Khary Pierre, Sherfane Rutherford, Keserick Williams and Hayden Walsh Jr were preferred for the India tour to experienced players like Carlos Brathwaite, Andre Russell and Dwayne Bravo.
“They (young players) need experience and we need to back these guys and see how far they can go because we have seen their talent, their attitude. It’s just a matter of trying to teach them and ease them into the world of international cricket which we know is a very tough place.”
Talking about the upcoming series, Pollard said his team will look to use the experience of playing in India to challenge the hosts.
“We play a lot of cricket in India. It’s just a matter of using our experience and hopefully that experience can be a good step for us.”
Pollard said his side need to improve their collective game as a team to give India a tough fight in the series.
“We are coming up against India, a formidable team No1 side going around and I think that’s good for us, getting an opportunity to come across them. We look at it as a challenge and have to deal with what is presented in front of us,” he said.
“We are looking to do the basics right, use our opportunities every time we step on the cricket field. We are not focussing on too many individuals. We collectively as a team is looking to improve our cricket,” said the visiting captain.