'I think pressure's always there, especially when you're playing a World Cup at home' - Rovman Powell shares ahead of Afghanistan encounter

Regardless of past performances or track records, the anticipation and expectations for any sporting tournament are immense for every member of the competing teams. This pressure intensifies siginificant folds when you are the co-hosts of an event as significant as the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2024.

Skipper of the West Indies, Rovman Powell highlighted the imperative need to manage this pressure at various stages. He also expressed his immense pride as the captain, having witnessed the West Indies rise from ninth to third in the ICC Men's T20I Team Rankings over his one-year tenure at the helm. Powell remarked that he had never played in a West Indies team ranked as high as third, which made the achievement even more special for him.

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"I think pressure is always there, especially when you're playing a World Cup at home. Pressure is always there, but it's for us as individuals to manage the pressure. And I think for me as captain, when I started this journey 12 or 14 months ago, when I took over as captain, we were at eight or nine in the ranking," said Powell as per Cricbuzz.

"To see us at number three now in the world is a pleasing feeling. And it shows that not just myself, but the players are coming together and we're doing something right. I've never played in a West Indies team that is ranked number three in the world. So that for me is something special and hopefully, just hopefully, we can continue to climb those rankings," added Powell.

All the batters were excited to come to St. Lucia: Powell

Additionally, Powell noted that the West Indian batters were quite enthusiastic about coming to St. Lucia, a venue traditionally favorable for batting, at least when compared to the tracks the West Indies played their group-stage games at. He also mentioned that it presented a great opportunity for bowlers, particularly fast bowlers, to showcase their genuine prowess at a venue he felt backed the batters a bit more.

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"All the batters were excited to come to St. Lucia. Traditionally, St. Lucia has been a place where batters like to bat. But, it's also an opportunity for bowlers to bowl good spells here, especially the fast bowlers. We think that St. Lucia offers 60 - 40 from a batting perspective," stated Powell further.