West Indies Under-19 vice-captain, Kirstan Kallicharan is confident of defending the ICC Youth World Cup title in New Zealand next year.
The defending champions are in a difficult group with South Africa, Kenya and hosts New Zealand. Coached by Graeme West, the West Indies will need to hit the ground running to ensure they made it out of their group.
“I think the expectation is very high because people in the Caribbean want us to bring home the title again and I think we are capable of winning it again,” said a confident Kallicharan.
The Hillview College student revealed that batting depth in the squad will make the West Indies a formidable opponent at the Youth World Cup.
“I think our batting can conquer any bowling lineup once we put our mind to bat. The guys have a faced a good bit of swing bowling and fast bowling at the Super50 tournament earlier this year. We experienced a lot in that tournament and I think it will be very important going into the World Cup because the intensity will be as high as that tournament,” said the 17-year-old.
Kallicharan and captain Emmanuel Stewart are the two surviving members from the World Cup winning squad and the all-rounder is adamant that he needs to set the tone as a one of the most senior members of the team.
“It will be very important for me to lead from the front because I have the experience playing against international teams and at a World Cup. Therefore, I can share some of my experience with the team which can give them more confidence going into every game,” said the Queen’s Park player.
He added, “At the last World Cup the experienced players in the team shared a lot of information and were instrumental in guiding the younger players. I am going to keep that tradition going and continue passing on information and being an example for the younger players so they will do the same when they become senior members in the squad.”