West Indies vs Sri Lanka: The defending champions eye mental unshackling, says Pollard

Pollard’s
men
entertain
the
Lions
in
Abu
Dhabi
on
Thursday
night
(November
4)
knowing
two
convincing
wins
are
required
from
their
final
two
games
to
give
them
any
chance
of
qualifying
for
the
semifinals
following
damaging
defeats
against
England
and
South
Africa.

A
three-run
win
over
Bangladesh
last
time
out
got
West
Indies
on
the
board
and
Pollard
is
not
giving
up
hope
of
his
side
squeezing
into
the
last
four,
insisting
morale
remains
high
while
not
hiding
his
frustration
with
their
performances
so
far.

“We
are
all
disappointed,
and
I’m
sure
most
of
the
fans
are
disappointed
at
the
position
that
we
are
in
as
a
team.
It’s
something
that
we
accept
but
we
have
an
opportunity
over
a
couple
games
to
finish
the
tournament
on
a
high.

“Obviously
we’ve
finished
the
early
stages
and
see
mathematically
where
we
sit,
but
I
think
the
main
focus
for
us
is
actually
winning
the
two
games,
and
everything
else
can
sort
of
take
care
of
itself
afterwards,”
said
Pollard
in
an
official
ICC
release.

“In
this
thing
called
life
and
sport,
nothing
is
impossible.
What
I
can
safely
say
is
yes,
the
guys
are
confident.
We
knew
exactly
what
sort
of
is
needed
in
terms
of
from
a
run
rate
perspective,
and
we’ll
take
all
things
into
consideration
when
that
match
starts.

“But
I
also
believe
that
it’s
very,
very
important
that
we
continue
to
go
through
the
process
of
trying
to
improve
each
and
every
time
as
a
team
and
especially
from
a
batting
perspective,
and
that’s
going
to
be
the
order
of
the
day,”
he
added.

Pollard
and
his
fellow
batters
will
have
to
negotiate
the
tournament’s
leading
wicket
taker,
Wanindu
Hasaranga,
who
took
a
hat-trick
against
South
Africa
and
will
be
looking
to
add
to
his
14
scalps
in
Thursday’s
meeting.

But
the
West
Indies
skipper
warned
his
teammates
not
to
focus
solely
on
the
leg-spinner,
with
plenty
of
other
weapons
to
be
wary
of
in
Sri
Lanka’s
armoury.

“Obviously
he
[Hasaranga]
has
been
phenomenal
for
Sri
Lanka
for
a
long
period
of
time
and
he
has
done
well
against
us
in
the
past.

“He
is
definitely
a
trump
card
when
it
comes
to
their
bowling
line-up
but
as
a
team
we
have
chatted
about
how
we
want
to
go
about
batting
against
certain
individuals,”
said
Pollard.

“It’s
not
only
about
Hasaranga.
We
do
have
to
beat
him
this
game
but
you
have
to
think
about
the
Kumaras
and
the
Chameeras
and
all
these
guys.

“Everyone
has
a
skill
and
a
talent
in
their
own
right.
We’re
coming
up
against
the
Sri
Lanka
cricket
team
and
we’re
looking
forward
to
playing
a
good
solid
game
of
cricket
against
that
team,”
he
added.

West
Indies
have
2
points
from
three
games
and
victories
in
the
remaining
games
are
mandatory
for
them
to
stand
even
a
slim
chance
to
enter
the
semis.