00:00The West Indies have to go into World Cup qualifiers next year with the aim of playing in the 2027
00:05fifth day over World Cup on the African continent.
00:07As such, Wendy skipper Shehope sees this three-match ODI series against hosts India as the ideal test.
00:14Playing India in their backyard is always a challenge. It's one that we definitely look to grasp and embrace.
00:22Especially when you come here, you expect the best out of the best. It's a great indicator for us to
00:27see where we're at as a team.
00:29Playing anyone in their home conditions will always be challenging, but it's something that we always look forward to.
00:33When you're playing international cricket, you want to play against the best and why not do it in their home
00:38conditions and you get the real test.
00:39So we're definitely looking forward to it and it's going to be an exciting one for us.
00:42This is the third time the West Indies are going into qualifiers, with the previous one being a disaster since
00:48they did not make it to the 2023 World Cup.
00:51While they had some good ODI performances along the way this time around, Hope felt it should have been better
00:57to avoid having to go into qualifiers.
00:59Our consistency is the biggest thing for us. We've seen bright sparks from different series and from different persons around
01:08West Indies cricket.
01:09But it's about repeating that, trying to get those performances rather than one or two games, just try to extend
01:17that for two, three, four series.
01:18The opening game is in Trivandrum, which is in the southern part of India.
01:22And what expectations does Hope have regarding the conditions?
01:26Usually, when you watch on the television and you see the scores that I have here, the wickets tend to
01:33look a lot better for batting.
01:35I'm not sure the bowlers are going to be as happy about it, but we've got to still play the
01:39conditions as we see it, adapt on the day,
01:42because it could be a bowling-friendly wicket, who knows?
01:44So you've got to make sure when that first ball bowls, you're ready for anything.
01:47Following Game 1, the remaining ODIs take place on Wednesday and next week, Saturday.
