TOBY Radford, former West Indies batting coach, is adamant that when it comes to the selection of the playing XI for the World T20, it will come down to a balance between the highly experienced players and those fit for the tough conditions in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Radford was speaking on the Barbadian Radio programme, Mason and Guest, on Tuesday evening about West Indies’ chances at defending their title at the World T20 which starts October 17.

“There is a fine line with having experience, and this team has a lot of experience in (Dwayne) Bravo, (Kieron) Pollard, (Chris) Gayle, and (Ravi) Rampaul. These are guys that have been there and won World Cups but there is a fine line between having all that experience and tactical awareness and how it will affect you, because you more probably will get injuries, probably slower between the wickets, might be slower in the field.” the former batting coach expressed.

Radford contended that the key is finding a dynamic team and one which has the situational experience to play the game in the playing XI.
The West Indies High-Performance coach highlighted that T20 is a very physical game and the weather in the UAE is “incredibly hot” as he reminisced about a situation where he toured with the High-Performance team.

According to the coach, judging from the experience of playing in the UAE against Pakistan, the boundary size has great significance, as some are larger than most and it “won’t be a boundary-fest”, noting that two and threes will be vital.

West Indies, the only side to win the tournament twice, will feature on the opening day of the Super 12s – October 23 – as they kick off their defence of the title in Dubai against England

Squad: Kieron Pollard (capt.), Nicholas Pooran (vice-capt. & wkp.), Fabian Allen, Dwayne Bravo, Roston Chase, Andre Fletcher (wkp.), Chris Gayle, Shimron Hetmyer, Evin Lewis, Obed McCoy, Ravi Rampaul, Andre Russell, Lendl Simmons, Oshane Thomas, Hayden Walsh Jr.
Reserves: Jason Holder, Akeal Hosein, Sheldon Cottrell, Darren Bravo