‘The big thing for me is winning games’

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (CMC):

WEST INDIES One-Day International (ODI) skipper Shai Hope says it is an honour to be mentioned among some of the greatest cricketers to ever don the maroon and gold.

The 30-year-old joined elite company and now has the joint third-most centuries by a West Indian in ODIs, after scoring an emphatic 117 against England in the second ODI at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium on Sunday.

It brought up his 17th ODI century in his 129th match and tied fellow Barbadian Desmond Haynes, one of the greatest-ever opening batsmen.

Hope only trails the great Brian Lara, who has 19 centuries, and Chris Gayle, who scored 25 centuries from his 298 matches.

While Hope admitted that he was more focused on winning rather than personal achievements, he acknowledged that he was proud of his accomplishment.

“It’s really not a big thing for me, the big thing for me is winning games. Yes, you have to respect history and they’ve been around and doing great things for years, but if I’m scoring centuries and we don’t win, it really doesn’t feel like anything,” Hope told reporters during a pre-match press conference at Kensington Oval yesterday.

“Yes, it’s a great achievement but I want it to contribute to wins.”

When asked whether he believed his career would have been as successful as it has turned out when he made his debut against Sri Lanka back in 2016, Hope said it was not something he thought about at that time.

“It wasn’t something I thought about at all. I just wanted to win games and, personally, if I get those big scores, it’s a plus.

“It’s something that people like to talk about, it’s not one of my forefronts … but I wasn’t really thinking about scoring 17 or 20 hundreds for the West Indies in any form,” Hope said.

“But it’s something that I’m blessed to be doing. I’m getting to play the sport that I love and I always wanted to play for West Indies. Growing up watching all of the legends play and just replicating some of the things that they’ve been doing is a special thing for me.”