Ravi Rampaul urges West Indies batters to counter India's spin threat

West Indies bowling coach Ravi Rampaul on Thursday urged his batters to "rotate the strike" and rely on their better players of spin to "counter" India's three-pronged spin-bowling attack as they look to bounce back in the five-match series.

West Indies made a promising start in the opening T20I in Lucknow but lost three wickets in the powerplay -- Kamil Pooran, Shimron Hetmyer and Rovman Powell -- before India's spinners tightened the screws in the middle overs to bowl them out for 171 in 19.1 overs.

India then continued their batting dominance, riding on captain Shreyas Iyer's unbeaten 102, his maiden T20I hundred, to chase down the target in just 14.4 overs and take a 1-0 lead.


With India expected to retain a strong spin presence in Ranchi, Rampaul believes West Indies need their better players of spin to bat deeper into the innings.

"Definitely, rotation of the strike. Our middle order have Hetty (Hetmyer) and Shai (Hope) as well, and they are very good players of spin," Rampaul said on the eve of the second T20I at the JSCA Stadium here.

"We see that when they bat through the middle, we put up big, challenging scores. So obviously, for our better players of spin, it's about batting longer into the innings."

Rampaul also admitted that the repeated failure of his bowlers to execute their plans can be frustrating, but said the pressure of bowling against India's formidable batting line-up requires his players to remain adaptable.

"Sometimes it can be a little frustrating when we come up with plans and the bowlers don't execute," he said.

"Obviously, it's a high-pressure situation when you play as a bowler. Even in these conditions against the Indian batting line-up, the bowlers will be under pressure.

"I think it's a little bit about not being consistent enough with the execution and having the confidence to go to a different plan as a bowler."

West Indies' bowling attack struggled for control in the opening game, with Matthew Forde conceding 39 runs from two overs and Shamar Springer also failing to make much of an impact. Akeal Hosein, who finished with 1/37, was the most economical of the frontline bowlers but even he could not prevent India's comfortable chase.

Rampaul, however, backed the attack and pointed to its relative lack of international experience rather than a lack of ability.

"If you look at our T20 bowling line-up, it's actually a young bowling group. Most of these guys haven't played more than 15 or 20 T20 internationals," he said.

"It just boils down to the experience of the bowling group and then the execution of our plans. We weren't good enough to execute for a longer period during the game."

The former West Indies pacer also acknowledged that the loss of wickets in clusters has become a recurring problem for the side, with the powerplay collapse once again leaving the visitors on the back foot.

"It's something that has plagued us in the past -- losing wickets in clusters -- and it happened again. When that happens, we struggle a little bit in the middle," Rampaul said.

"The pitch did offer a little turn for the spinners in the middle, but those three wickets really set us back. I think we made up for it towards the end as a batting group."