“I set out to play for West Indies, and now I’ve played over 100 T20I games – it’s something that I’m grateful for. I’ve moved the team from ninth in the rankings to No. 3 in the world. Those are the little things that during the duration of your career you feel proud about. I’ve won franchise titles with various teams around the world. That is also something you feel proud about.
“My captaincy stint with the West Indies was very good – a pretty successful stint. [It’s] something that I’m grateful for. It has fostered better interactions with the players. You open your eyes to each and every one in these leagues as soon as they’re playing, you look to see what they are doing, and how much they can contribute to West Indies cricket. So it fostered those healthy conversations. Whenever people would see you as captain, they would ask how far they are from playing for West Indies, and what they need to do.”
Powell took over the T20I captaincy from Nicholas Pooran and international cricket is still the priority for him. Powell has been part of ten teams across seven franchise leagues around the world. How does he carve out space in a cramped calendar?
“After you play international cricket, you pick a few competitions that don’t have any international clashes,” he said. “Fortunately, ILT20 is one, [and] IPL is one. I haven’t been to the PSL in a few years because there’s always a clash. We have our own local competition, which is the CPL. When there is no international cricket, you see the other leagues that are going on, and if you can go there for a few games, that also works.”
“I do it [on] competition-basis,” he said. “If you go match-by-match, then it is kinda hard, and it takes away from your cricket because each passing game, you have to realise different stuff – like this game you get the opportunity to bat a lot of balls, the next game you get the opportunity to bat five-six balls. So I do it by competition.
“And at the end of the competition, all I want to ensure is make meaningful contributions. When I was in a position to win the game, did I win the game? ‘Yes, I did [or] no, I did not’. When you get an opportunity to make an impact, did you?”
“I like batting at No. 5 most. You can develop a level of consistency with the game. That is the difference between batting early in the order and late”
Rovman Powell
“I like batting at No. 5 most,” Powell says. “You can develop a level of consistency with the game. That is the difference between batting early in the order and late. At No. 5, I have an opportunity to build an innings. When I bat at No. 7 or those places, you only bat ten balls sometimes – at most. All you have to do then is just try to hit as many sixes as possible. Batting earlier at Nos. 4 or 5, you’re given the opportunity to bat more balls, [and] take a little fewer chances. So the volume of runs you score will be a lot greater.”
How does he construct an innings?
“It’s dependent on the state of the game. If you bat early, you know how fast you have to bat. One thing never changes: you take the first few balls to get yourself in, to read the conditions, pick up how good the wicket is, [and] what’s going on with different types of bowlers. After you get that, you lay out the platform of how you’re looking to score them. The flow of the game will tell you how you need to bat, [and] how many boundaries you need.”
At 32, Powell has been succeeded by Shai Hope as the West Indies T20I captain, but another important phase of few months looms for him. He firstly doesn’t have to worry about the IPL auction next week after being retained by KKR, but once the ILT20 ends in early January, the focus will switch to the T20 World Cup to be played in India and Sri Lanka from February 7. Having not made the knockouts of the tournament since winning it in 2016, it’s an opportunity for Powell to help West Indies go at least one step further and make himself proud again.
Ekanth is a sub-editor with ESPNcricinfo
