West Indies v Afghanistan takeaways: Revival for Pollard's men

The 3-0 whitewash against Afghanistan in India was also their first series win outside home since 2011. There were plenty of positives for the Caribbean side to take away from the tour.

ODI all-rounder Chase grows from strength to strengthRoston Chase has become a key part of West Indies’ ODI set-up, despite having played only 22 games in the format. In the second ODI, his crafty off-spin resulted in career-best figures of 3/30, and he finished as the leading wicket-taker in the series. With the bat, he looks solid at No.4; the 94 in the first game rescued West Indies from 25/2 to chase down 195.

Pollard was all praise after the second ODI: "[In] two games consistently he has played his role to perfection. Yes, he didn't get many with the bat today, but again he showed with the ball the experience that he has, the cleverness, changing of pace, setting the fields in different aspects, trying to get the results.”

Shai Hope, suited at the top

The move to reinstate Shai Hope at the top paid dividends: He responded with scores of 77*, 43 and 109*, finishing at an average of 229.00. It took his tally as an ODI opener to 1089 runs at an average of 108.90, including five centuries in 14 innings, as compared to his numbers outside the top two, where he averages 37.68 and has two centuries in 50 innings.

He also scores at a better pace, with an opening strike-rate of 84.74, in comparison to his middle-order figure of 68.52.

Youngsters seamlessly fit in

The West Indies side features a good number of youngsters with limited ODI experience. Yet, the newcomers have managed to adapt quickly. From Hayden Walsh (4 wickets, 3 games) to Romario Shepherd (3 wickets, 3 games), to Nicholas Pooran (batting average 48.00, strike-rate 107.86), the lack of ODI experience has done little to deter them.

Pollard was particularly impressed with Pooran’s maturity down the order, lauding him for sticking to his natural game during a stroke-filled 50-ball 67 at No.5 in the second match.

“We needed one guy staying till the end or getting that one fifty for us, and he did it,” Pollard said. "He hasn't played many games and he's showing that level of maturity as an individual, but again we're not surprised by the results because of the work he's been putting on and off the field."

Bigger challenges ahead

The series win is West Indies’ first in ODIs since their victory over Bangladesh in 2014, and comes after a gap of 15 bilateral series. Without downplaying the importance of the feat secured against a lower-ranked Afghanistan, Pollard admitted that consistency will be key if they want to develop a winning habit.

"Yes, it's against Afghanistan, but Afghanistan have beaten us recently. A lot of people say, 'it's just Afghanistan', but we take pride in what we want to do and the guys have shown by effort even off the field and then coming onto the field and trying to deliver the goods.

"So far, what has gone well is guys are sticking to the plans, sticking to what we actually want to do, and it's actually coming off," Pollard said. "The longer we do that and more consistently we do that, we're going to put up consistent performances."