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Blackwood backs positive mind frame ahead of India Tests

Published:Sunday | June 25, 2023 | 2:04 AMLennox Aldred - Gleaner Writer
West Indies batsman Jermaine Blackwood on the go against Bangladesh at the Sir Vivian Richards Cricket Stadium in North Sound, Antigua and Barbuda last year.
CWI Media photo
West Indies batsman Jermaine Blackwood on the go against Bangladesh at the Sir Vivian Richards Cricket Stadium in North Sound, Antigua and Barbuda last year.

JAMAICA’S JERMAINE Blackwood has admitted that in the last year or so, he was not the positive cricketer that most have come to know.

The Westmorland native has made it clear that if he is to do well in the upcoming Test series against India, he will need to revert to that positive frame of mind which saw him have a stellar 2015 where he scored 616 runs in 10 games and 427 runs in 2020 where he was named in the Cricinfo Test team of the year.

The 31-year-old has also highlighted that since being at home and playing in some local competitions, his appetite for the game has been rekindled and the diminutive right-hander is eager to go out and showcase that positivity on the international stage once again.

The West Indies vs India series starts with two Test matches as part of the 2023-2025 ICC World Test Championship. Windsor Park in Dominica will host the first Test match from July 12-16 with the second Test match, to be played from July 20-24 at Queen’s Park Oval in Trinidad, which will be a historic occasion marking the 100th Test match played between the two teams.

The last time Blackwood and the West Indies took on their Indian counterparts in the Caribbean, the hosts were handed a spanking with Blackwood having to come into the game in 2019 at Sabina Park as a concussion substitute.

PRETTY CONFIDENT

“I am pretty confident now, but the last time I played against India I didn’t score the runs that I wanted. This time around I am in a different space because I have been putting in a lot of work and hopefully, I can score big runs in this series.”

The West Indies know all too well that India will be coming to the Caribbean with starting well on their agenda, having lost the World Test Championship (WTC) final to Australia.

With this series set to kick off the new WTC cycle, Blackwood is hoping that the regional side can come up with the goods despite the recent away series loss to South Africa.

“For the past two years we have been playing some good cricket and this year, we want to take it up a notch. India is one of the top teams in the world, but we have to put up a good fight and we have players who can do that.”