Mumbai Nov 23: West Indies opener Adrian Barath believes that although his side are relatively inexperienced, the youngsters, including him, have put up a good fight against India. At the end of Day 1 of the third Test here, he spoke about his batting and the West Indies team with bcci.tv.

Excerpts from the brief interaction:

On Day 1 of the third Test

It was good to see our batsmen score today. It’s a very important tour; we’ve stood up as men, as batsmen. The team needed me and Kraigg [Brathwaite] and we batted well. [It was] good to see him come in, score his second half-century. To see a young player do well is good for our cricket.

On regrouping and fighting back

It is very difficult, having lost the series to come in and play with pride; that is difficult ­– not having a chance in the series. We had to salvage something as players [I want to] play for pride and for myself and West Indies. We really want to see West Indies do well in this Test match because we are doing really good as a team and we don’t have much to show [for it]. India are more experienced and a quality team but we have been playing cricket well but have been in the shadows. That last game, where we scored 400, that helped our confidence coming into this game. That brings up my point that this is our fifth Test match on a run. We completed two in Bangladesh and we played three here; this is sort of like a five-Test series, that is the ultimate thing. Hopefully we will see West Indies playing that number of games in a row.

On the Wankhede wicket

Winning the toss was very important because you don’t know what this wicket would be like on the third or fourth day. We back ourselves to get the best part of the wicket – on Day 1 and 2 – and capitalise on it. The outfield is a bit heavy and although it may seem that we scored a bit slow, we made up well. Myself and Kraigg pushed on and then Darren [Bravo] and Kirk Edwards. It’s important how we start tomorrow.

On the total they would like to post

We would look to bat as long as possible, [score] 450-500 runs […] It is important to keep India out there as much as possible. The outfield is heavy and not the easiest; it will take a lot out of your legs. It’s great to bat on and we have other batsmen to come. Unfortunately we are without Shivnarine Chanderpaul. But cricket is all about young players coming up and taking opportunities. This is good for West Indies cricket and we have players and talent. Our players are working really hard; [we’re] mentally strong and want to do well.