Greaves wishes he could have helped WI win

PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad:

Joint Player-of-the-Series in the just-concluded Tests against Pakistan, Justin Greaves, bemoaned that his fitness level didn’t allow him to contribute more to the West Indies’ efforts in the second match.

Greaves, who took a maiden five-wicket haul in the opening Test and was named Player-of-the-Match in the West Indies’ 90-run win, did not bowl a single ball in the second match, which Pakistan won by eight wickets on Wednesday to level the two-match series.

The 32-year-old Barbadian was named Player-of-the-Series along with Pakistan captain Babar Azam, after scoring 111 runs and taking seven wickets.

While Greaves, who was also named Player-of-the-Series in the preceding Test series against Sri Lanka, was happy with his performances, he said he wished he could have done more for his side to help them earn a historic Test series win over Pakistan.

“I was happy that, when things got a little bit difficult and things got a bit tricky, I was able to put my hand up in the first game, as well as this game, in terms of batting,” he said.

“We had a tricky little situation and Roston Chase and I put on a pretty good partnership in the first innings, but just unlucky that I was unable to bowl to help the team.

“I’m probably just a couple of days away in terms of getting back to full fitness, but really, really, looking back at it now, I just really wished I could have helped the team a little bit more,” Greaves said after the match.

“I think my game is in a really good place at the moment, but I’m never satisfied. I always want to do better, always want to help the team.

“We actually set out to win both series at home, ended up drawing this one, so not a bad international summer for us in terms of Test cricket,” he stated. “But, looking back, we obviously want to win more Test matches,” he added.