Legspinner Devendra Bishoo, whose Man-of-the-Match performance helped West Indies win the one-off Twenty20 against Pakistan in St Lucia, has said his increasing "self-confidence" played a big role in the development of his bowling.
"My self-confidence helped me a lot from World Cup up to now," Bishoo said. "This is just the starting point of my career and I am enjoying my cricket. Everybody is a normal cricketer and that's the way I go about thinking about it. I just back myself and do whatever I do best."
Bishoo picked up four wickets, including that of Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi, and conceded only 17 off his four overs. He said he had focussed containing the batsmen. "We set a target of 151, which we could have worked with, and capitalised on it. When I came on to bowl, I just tried to contain the batsmen. I varied my pace as much as possible and it worked out.
"All wickets are big wickets. I always back myself to do well against the batsmen I come up against. When I came on to bowl I knew the team needed a good performance. I just tried to use my variations and changes of pace."
Bishoo, who was playing his first international match at home, said he now hoped to go on and become a "great cricketer for West Indies."
"This is a great feeling," he said. "It was good to play the way we did and give the supporters something to celebrate. It worked out well today and we are looking forward to the ODI series"
Afridi said the inability of Pakistan's batsmen to string partnerships together contributed to the defeat in a game he believed his team should have won. Their highest partnership was 29 as compared to the 99-run partnership between Darren Bravo and Lendl Simmons for West Indies' second wicket.
"I think the pitch was good for batsmen, and I don't know why we missed this opportunity to win this match," Afridi said. "We are not building any partnerships. This is what has been missing for us for a few months. Bishoo bowled really well, and all of their bowlers delivered in the right areas."
The first ODI of the five-match series will be played in St Lucia on April 23.