CWC 2023 Qualifiers: Blame game in West Indies dressing room, skipper Shai Hopes questions players’ attitude after World Cup exit

West Indies captain Shai Hope on Saturday questioned the attitude and preparation of his players after their surprise exit from the race to qualify for the World Cup in India. The former two-time title winners will not feature in the 50-over World Cup for the first time in 48 years, since the competition’s inception in 1975.

The Caribbean team crashed out of the Super Sixes match on Saturday following a seven-wicket defeat to Scotland, a contest in which they once again disappointed with both bat and ball.

“To be honest, it’s not something I can put my finger on. We’ve definitely let ourselves down in the tournament,” Hope told the broadcaster after West Indies’ shock defeat.

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“It’s really about attitude. According to me fielding is attitude, catches will be dropped and misfields will happen, it’s a part of the game and I think we didn’t give 100 per cent every time, we did it in bits and pieces.”

“It starts from the foundation, from home, the preparation has to be better. We can’t come here and expect to be a elite team without preparation. You can’t wake up one morning and expect to be a great team,” he added. Added.

Hope, who himself had a decent tournament with the bat, said West Indies need to relook at their game plan.

“We need to see how we start our innings for sure,” said Hope, who scored 132 against Nepal.

“We knew it was going to be challenging. The toss is always important but we need to find a way to counter that early action. Every captain who wins the toss here decides to bowl first and we need to counter the early morning humidity. We need it. We need it.” Give West Indian fans something to be happy about.”

The skipper-wicketkeeper said the West Indies would look to make the most of the last two matches here, which are going to be irrelevant as they are out of contention to qualify for the World Cup in India.

“We have two more games to go and we need to find a way to come back. The talent is there, I’ve always believed that, but we need to translate it into consistent performances,” Hope said.

With Darren Sammy taking over as the white-ball head coach ahead of the ODI series against the UAE in Sharjah in June, expectations were high from the two-time T20 World Cup-winning captain to make a big difference in the Windies ranks.

However, according to Hope, the group needs more time to understand each other. He said, “We have to understand each other even more and we have to go one way and that is up.”