India vs West Indies, 3rd ODI: Carlos Brathwaite working on fitness and reprogramming his thoughts to regain batting form

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Struggling with his form, West Indies all-rounder Carlos Brathwaite said he is working on his fitness and trying to “reprogramme” his thoughts to get his batting back in order. Brathwaite scored 9, 10 and 0 across formats in the ongoing limited over series against India as West Indies suffered defeats in four straight games.

“I think batting-wise I have to reprogramme my thinking about hitting and swiping and batting properly,” he told reporters on the eve of the final ODI against India on Wednesday.

“We are having a lot of honest conversations with the coaches and the staff and I think one thing that’s kept me back is my fitness. I am working very, very hard in the past 12 to 14 months on my fitness – I believe I can get a bit stronger as well.” Brathwaite’s last memorable innings came in the World Cup in England when he blasted an 82-ball 101 to take West Indies to the brink of victory against New Zealand.

But his attempt to hit a match-winning six in the penultimate over cost him dearly as West Indies went down by five runs.

“I had a lot of time to bat. I had a clear thought process. I was working very hard off the pitch, as I am now, with the bat, in trying to do the right things and the simple things as long as possible,” said Brathwaite. “I had enough time so I could play myself in getting so at the back end when I normally come in to bat to start my innings I already had (faced) 40-50 balls. The challenge for me is that that situation won’t always present itself.

“(In the India series,) being at home, we have changed the combination a bit. There I played at seven (six), here at eight, nine or maybe seven – the thing I take away from that (New Zealand) innings is the way I structured and built the innings which allowed me to kick off at the back end,” he added.