T20 World Cup maybe a defining moment for Sammy, says noted commentator

Daren Sammy’s future as all-format head coach could hinge on the West Indies’ performance at the upcoming T20 World Cup, says renowned cricket commentator Ian Bishop.

Sammy, who captained the West Indies to two T20 World Cup titles, has endured a tough start since becoming all-format head coach on April 1.

He has won just two series; a historic 2-1 victory over Pakistan in their One Day International (ODI) series in August and a 3-0 whipping of Bangladesh in October in their T20I series.

However, he has suffered Test and T20I losses to Australia, a Test series loss to India, an ODI series loss to Bangladesh, while New Zealand downed the regional side in their recently concluded T20I, ODI and Test series.

With the 2026 T20 World Cup set to be held in Sri Lanka and India from February to March, Bishop believes Sammy’s tenure could be tied to the West Indies’ showing at the marquee event.

Speaking during an interview on iSports i95.5 FM over the weekend, Bishop admitted that Sammy’s results thus far had been unflattering.

“The results so far are not going to be a pleasing reflection for Daren Sammy.

“He started off with three very difficult series, but he knew that when he took the job against Australia in the Caribbean, against India in India and then against New Zealand in New Zealand, where we haven’t won since 1995; that’s 30 years of Test cricket where we haven’t won a game, so there will be disappointment certainly from a Test match point of view….” Bishop said.

“From a white ball point of view, the real proof is going to be the T20 World Cup next year. That is a team that has a lot of potential from a batting point of view if not from a bowling point of view, and so what are we going to judge him by? And I think it’s going to rest heavily on the white-ball component of the game that will come up in the next two months.”

(CMC)