Between October 2014 and April 2023, West Indies played 30 bilateral ODI series and won just four. When Sammy took over as white-ball coach in May 2023, one of his priorities was turning home into a fortress. Since then, West Indies have won four of the seven home series.
“You come to India and you hear you haven’t won a series here in 20-odd years,” Sammy said. “Yes, the results have not gone our way, but we continue to improve in certain areas. Understanding the objective of this trip and what success means for my team, I think we have taken some strides – not only now, but overall too.
“When I took on this job, one of the things we said was making home, the Caribbean, our fortress. We have been able to do so over the last two and a half years. We lost probably two series – the first one against India in 2023, then a one-match series against Sri Lanka after a game got rained off, and then we lost against New Zealand. But what we have been able to do is make home a fortress. To me, that is success.
“I understand what I have in my dressing room, the talent we have as a region, and what we could be. So, for me, success is not always winning series against the top team. It is the strides we take as an international team, and that goes across the board.”
“I think the important thing for us was that we batted with intent,” Sammy said. “It’s something we have spoken about in the dressing room – batters in the top four scoring hundreds. We have had four hundreds in two games. That is a positive. The rotation of strike and the intent, especially against spin – these are the little things, the KPIs.
“But if the surface dictates that we need 450, then I guess we have got to get 475. That’s one of the challenges. Our batters will have to play according to the par score on the day.
“When we look back, we review if we left runs out there? I’m pretty sure we did. Especially when you find yourself in a good position on a good pitch, you should be able to double the score at 30 overs. We were 230-odd for 2 after 30 overs in Guwahati, so you are looking at 450 or thereabouts. But in the last ten overs, when you are supposed to accelerate, we only scored 70-odd.
“When we came in with 400, and you look at the stats, you say India have never chased 400 before. You hope you go out as a bowling group and get wickets up front, because that’s what you have to do to beat India in India.
“You take wickets in the powerplay and in the middle and build pressure. But Shubman [Gill] and Rohit [Sharma] didn’t really give us a chance. Rohit scored 100 off 70-odd balls and Shubman Gill was even faster. They scored big hundreds. I was telling the guys: when you get pitches like that, sometimes the team requires you to score 170, not just 100.”
As a bowling unit, Sammy said, West Indies needed to be “more disciplined and consistent’ with their lines.
“As professionals, you have got to come out and do your job. If it’s a 400-run pitch – that’s eight an over – it’s our job to try to restrict the opposition to 7.5. Or even eight. Make it par. Then you give yourself a chance. When we bat and the par is seven runs an over, you try to score higher than that.”
“As a professional, that’s not what you want to hear before a series. But again, it’s no secret to me, or to you guys. Earlier this year, when I was here for the Test series, we spoke about the financial situation of West Indies cricket. And I guess the administrators and the board needed to find a way to stay afloat.
“If you have a business that’s not doing well financially, you have got to find ways to sustain it. Unless we get some big sum of money with which we could entice our players, let them know that everything is going to be okay financially, that’s the situation.
“I told the guys there is no better time to play India. You win against the best team and you get some leverage – not only for West Indies as a whole, but for you personally. Performing against India always brings that extra incentive that can pay you back down the road.
“So we try our best but it is a big mirror – you can’t escape seeing the reflection of all the struggles that are present. I commend the guys for the way they have put their heads down.”
Hemant Brar is a sub-editor at Cricinfo
