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  • 10 months ago
It's all down to better execution for the West Indies come the second and final Test against Pakistan starting on Saturday in Multan.

That's according to promising middle order batsman Alick Athanaze as he spoke with the media ahead of the match.

West Indies were crushed by 127 runs in three days in the first Test in which the Pakistan spinners grabbed all 20 wickets.

However, Athanaze believes the Caribbean can mount a fight once they execute better.
Transcript
00:00After failing to crack 200 in either of their innings in the first test defeat to Pakistan,
00:05the obvious question to ask was what went wrong for the West Indies and Dominican batsman Alec
00:11Athanese believed it was down to one thing. I think it was entirely about execution to be
00:17honest. I think if we look at most of the guys that scored runs on the wicket, they play a lot
00:22of sweeps and they played aggressive. It only looked that way because I think we didn't execute
00:26as well as we wanted to but I think we would have a similar approach in terms of playing
00:31our sweeps and playing our shots. Obviously we would have to assess the conditions first but
00:36that would be the approach. Athanese was one of the few bright spots for the West Indies with the
00:40bat as he was the only one to reach a half century in the second innings and the 26-year-old is eager
00:46to stand up once more in the second test. I mean obviously runs under your belt as a batter is
00:53currency and that is what makes you feel good but I mean I felt good since the practice match
00:58so I'm not short of confidence I would say but obviously going into the next test that would
01:05boost me up a bit so I'm feeling good. And the Southpaw offered some tips to his fellow
01:09West Indian batters to counter the Pakistan bowlers. I think my suggestion to the other
01:14batters is probably try to execute and probably look at the ball a bit longer. It is difficult
01:19to bat on the wickets here no doubt so I guess just trust your defense and I guess work on your
01:24sweeps and reverse sweeps. While West Indies did not bat well at all in the first test,
01:29their bowlers did well to restrict Pakistan in both innings with Jamel Warikon the bright spot
01:34after his first 10 wicket hole in test cricket and Athanese suggested Pakistan's own batting
01:40troubles were more of a result of good West Indian bowling. I think that I wouldn't say that
01:44they didn't bat very well we bowled very well to be honest it was a bit different the second
01:49innings we understood the dimensions and how quick the outfield is and you know the pace that we had
01:54to bowl on the wicket I think we learned from them so I wouldn't say that they batted very well
01:58they didn't bat very well I mean we bowled better in the second innings and I think the positives
02:03from my team is that you know we're looking to get out of our comfort zone to to adapt to
02:09different conditions so I think right now it's just focusing about executing and adapting as
02:13quickly as possible. Terence Clarke, TV6 Sport
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