Sammy backs Windies to rise to India challenge

History is against West Indies ahead of the upcoming three-match ODI series against India, which gets underway in Thiruvananthapuram on Sunday.

The regional side has not won a series against India on home soil in 22 years, but according to head coach Daren Sammy, playing against the world’s number-one-ranked team right now is timely.

“It’s a great opportunity for us as a team to come out here, challenge ourselves and measure up as to where we are in the world of one-day cricket. 

“I think it’s a great opportunity for us to put in a good show against India and look to win a series,” Sammy added.

Coach Sammy also believes the series will provide a good gauge for West Indies heading into the World Cup qualifiers in February 2027. He describes that event as a key priority.

“That is our number one focus, continuing to fine-tune the team so that when we go to the qualifiers, we put ourselves in a position to book our ticket to South Africa,” he said.

The team’s batting has generally improved in the format, and coach Sammy is hoping this trend will continue against India.

“Our batting has come a long way during this period. Shai Hope is not the only one scoring hundreds. We’ve gotten hundreds from different players. Alzarri Joseph is back bowling well and just helped Antigua win a CPL title. So yes, we want to give everybody an opportunity in those three games.

“We’ve got young Joel Andrew coming back into the set-up, Kemo Paul, everybody will be getting an opportunity. I think this is probably our last ODI series of the year. Looking at the schedule going into the qualifiers, we may not have another ODI series.”

(KH)