Thiruvananthapuram, Sep 25 The last time West Indies won an ODI series in India was back in 2002 when Carl Hooper was the captain with the batting line-up boasting of names like Chris Gayle, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Marlon Samuels to name a few.
It has been 24 long years and West Indies head coach Darren Sammy believes that it is time to break the jinx against Shubman Gill’s side when the three-match ODI series starts here on Sunday.
“It’s been 24 years, we’ve not won a series here in India,” Sammy said ahead of the first game on Sunday.
“It’s a great opportunity for us as a team to come out here and challenge ourselves and measure up ourselves as to where we are in ODIs,” the two-time T20 World Cup-winning former skipper said.
“It’s a great opportunity for us, the players that we have, to come and put in a good show against India and look to win a series, something we’ve not done in 24 years,” the former all-rounder said.
While West Indies are still 10th in ODI rankings, Sammy believes that the team under him has made significant progress.
“If we have to look back as to where we were and what we’ve been able to achieve as an ODI team, we’ve made some strides.”
Shai Hope is by far the best ODI batter in current set-up with 19 tons but Sammy believes there are enough players who can make a mark against the top ranked ODI side.
“Shai Hope is not the only one scoring hundreds. We’ve gotten hundreds from different players. Amir Jangoo, the way he’s played, we’ve seen a glimpse of Sherfane (Rutherford). I think in 2024-2025, we were looking for that type of form,” Sammy said.
Among the bowlers, pacer Alzarri Joseph was in fine form helping Antigua win the Caribbean Premier League T20 title.
“Alzarri Joseph is back bowling well, just helped Antigua win a CPL title. So yes, we want to give everybody an opportunity in those three games,” Sammy said.
The West Indies head coach is hopeful that 19-year-old wrist-spinner Vitel Lawes, who made his ODI debut against New Zealand few months back, can become an X-factor.
“Vitel, to me, he’s a find for us. What we saw in him that caused him to debut against New Zealand was all part of the planning and the processes we put in place. You’ve heard me for years talking about a wrist-spinner in the West Indies team,” Sammy said.
“He came in and he immediately had an impact on the bowling unit for us. Still got a long way to go but we will continue with his development through either playing games or the specific work we’ve put in place for him. He’s worked really well with Nikita Miller (spin bowling coach) and Ravi Rampaul here on tour.
(PTI News)
