Mumbai, Nov 20: Having lost the three-Test series against India 0-2 in Kolkata, West Indies will be playing for pride in the last match at Mumbai’s Wankhede stadium on November 22. Batsman Kirk Edwards spoke to the media about his team’s preparation for the forthcoming game.

Excerpts:

On the confidence in the West Indies squad

I think we were pretty confident as a team even before the second match. Of course, we will be going into this Test match with confidence as well.

On the preparations going into the last game

Mainly mental. You have to be prepared for more challenges because it’s Test cricket and it has been given that name because it really tests you.

On the practice sessions

It’s a great challenge; just every net session you have to try to understand how the pitches play and try to adjust your game to suit it. That’s what I am doing; [I’m] in the process of learning.

On the West Indies team

We tend to get along really well as a young team. I think the world has seen that we’re in the rebuilding process. We make mistakes that you probably wouldn’t make with experience but that’s all part of the process. We just have to learn from it and move forward.

On the forthcoming match

It’s a whole different game, a whole different pitch, a whole different stadium. We just have to play according to what we see. That’s how cricket works.

On the Wankhede pitch

[I’ve] seen it but [I] don’t have many thoughts on it at the moment. [We] have to see the history of the matches here and make a better assessment.

On his role in the team

[I] have a similar role to the rest of the guys coming in; [it is to] lay a solid platform for my team-mates. Every time I go out, that’s what I try to do for the team.

On what has influenced his cricket

For me, growing up in the same country as Desmond [Haynes], Barbados, you have a lot of conversations about batting and all that stuff. But my real influence comes from my dad.

On the Indian team

I think they are very good at home. I played against [Rohit] Sharma in the Caribbean and the other guys I have played against overseas. But from what I have seen over the past couple of weeks, they really understand the conditions well and they stick to the task.

On Rahul Dravid

Actually I get along very well with [Rahul] Dravid. I admire Dravid. I admire [VVS] Laxman. I admire a majority of those guys. But playing a game with Sachin [Tendulkar] was something special. It’s a memory that I will live with forever.

On Sachin Tendulkar

Sometimes I find myself focussing on him so much I am not focussing on my fielding. I think it’s the same thing for yourself as it is for me. The guy is a legend, so we are all in awe of him to see him batting.

On the pitches here

[The] pitches that we have played so far on in the subcontinent have tended to keep a bit low and then spin a lot more than the majority of the pitches we have back home. But some pitches in the Caribbean also spin a bit. But up here the surfaces are a lot drier and keep a little low.