Bengaluru, Oct 18 Making an emotional appeal for someone to “put an arm around” West Indies cricket financially, head coach Daren Sammy hoped that a closely-fought series against India will put them in a place to have more meaningful conversations with sponsors to swell the money flow into the struggling Caribbean cricket.
After pushing India hard in a 1-2 ODI series defeat, the Windies held the two-time defending T20I world champions to a 2-2 draw in the five-match series.
Sammy wanted to use the series as a pivot to change the financial fortunes of his nation. The West Indies have been finding it hard to survive under the current revenue sharing model of ICC which was adopted in 1997.
“My mom always said, you must have a care factor. No matter what you do in life, you should never lose that care factor. I think we’re in a position where we need somebody to put a shoulder around West Indies cricket — financially, that is,” Sammy said after the washed out fifth and final T20I here on Saturday night.
“Series like this, here in India against the best team in the world, puts us in a conversation closer to that.”
Sammy then drew a comparison between the Indian and West Indian cricketing landscapes, underlining the benefits of financial strength and structured growth.
“India will win the World Cup every time they go somewhere in an ICC event. They expect to win. It is because of all the things they’ve put in place. When the West Indies goes somewhere, we’ve got to perform in spite of. Because and in spite…there are two different words.”
The former captain wished that the Cricket West Indies could engage in talks with sponsors more confidently after a spirited outing against India.
“One is that things have been put in place. The other one, in spite, is because of the challenges. But we are still doing that. I think we’ve taken a big step.
“Hopefully, the conversations with stakeholders and the sponsors could be a little bit better after this series. Some investment comes where it could put us in a position to be better all round,” he said.
Beyond the money matters, Sammy also saw a fresh wave of confidence lashing this West Indies outfit.
“Look, we all know what it takes to play for the West Indies…the challenges. To play a team that has been so good for so long, especially in that format, it is a wonderful thing. All the guys in the dressing room, they’ve gone out there and played with intent.
“I think what was good to see was the swagger is back, the confidence is back. It started during the workup and you could see guys enjoying it and there was a willingness to win. And that’s where it starts. The belief that we belong where we are and to have the performances that says we belong there.”
As a coach, Sammy said, his job was to create the right kind of dressing room environment, equally during wins and setbacks.
“For me as a coach, it’s trying to create that environment, that winning mindset. The belief in players and sometimes you take two steps forward but because of the nature of the sport, certain things might happen and you might think you take three or four steps backwards.
“But to continue working and continue taking steps in the right direction. That’s what I’m about. I know there’s a lot of noise but I have very small ears so I don’t really hear. That’s how I go about doing it,” he said.
Sammy then thanked his two spinners — Roston Chase and Gudakesh Motie — for helping the side push a higher-grade team like India to the wall in the T20I series.
“I think it’s just the mindset, not bowling too many boundary balls. I think that’s the key here on good wickets. I’m not too sure about the stats but I’m pretty sure they had the most dots in the series.
“Roston… really proud of how he bowled throughout this series. Especially in that game (Hyderabad), I think he was the difference between us chasing 250 and 270. Motie was also excellent.”
However, Sammy did not hide his disappointment to see rain robbing his side a chance to win the T20I series.
“Obviously, we wanted to win because it’s something we’ve not done forever in India. I can’t recall when we beat India (in India) in a series last time. It would have been nice. But I think the cup is still in our favour because we won the home leg the last time 3-2. It’s a true reflection of how the teams have played.
“I’m pretty sure when the series started, we probably didn’t have a chance. That was just the opinion of others. We don’t ever take for granted where we are as a team, the challenges that we face. We just look to make little strides. I think after this series, we’ve taken a massive step. Hopefully, that type of energy could help us finish the year on a positive note,” he added.
(PTI News)
