West Indies squad, remembering Carlos Braithwaites last over match winning innings famously known as the ‘Remember the Name’ innings. Pollard, the West Indian captain, believes that will high will not affect the performance of the team in their opening match against England.
“In terms of personnel and bearing, to say it can have a big impact, I don’t think so. But it’s definitely going to be in the back of our minds. I thought what Carlos did in those four deliveries in that last over, it was unbelievable and it’s something that we actually as a team saw last night and it brought goosebumps back to us. For us to be back in that situation, to get over the line, it shows that sort of never-say-die attitude and we, as a team, look forward to replicating this entire tournament. Those sort of moments stick with us and hopefully we can just go out and play good cricket and get in a position and situation where we are actually in the final, so we can have some memories as well going forward. But having said that, I don’t think it will have much bearing on tomorrow’s game because it’s like another game of cricket as the situation was totally different – it being a final – but be that as it may, looking forward to coming out and show and give a good account of ourselves.”
After missing the finals few matches for Kolkata Knight Riders, Russell returned to play for the West Indies in the warm up match against Afghanistan as he took a wicket for 13 runs.
“As of right now, we have our last practice session this afternoon and will have a last look and see,” Pollard said. “If we’re confident for him Russell to take the field… he played in that warm-up game a couple of days ago and it was just like a trial for him because he hasn’t played a cricket match in about three-four weeks, so there’s still some rust there for him, still needed to be a bit confident in his mind. But I’m sure even yesterday and a couple of days before that, he’s been working tirelessly behind the scenes to be fit.”