West Indies head coach Daren Sammy addresses the challenging 25% player pay cuts by Cricket West Indies and emphasizes the urgent need for improved bowling discipline following their ODI series loss to India.
IMAGE: The West Indies will have a chance to salvage pride when they take on India in the third and final ODI at Mullanpur on Saturday, October 3, 2026. Photograph: ANI Photo
Key Points
- West Indies players face a 25 percent pay cut due to Cricket West Indies’ financial challenges, a decision acknowledged by coach Daren Sammy.
- Sammy stressed the critical need for West Indies bowlers to improve discipline in lines, lengths, and plans, particularly on unhelpful pitches.
- The coach felt the team could have scored closer to 450 in the second ODI, despite posting 405, highlighting a failure to accelerate in the final overs.
- Indian openers Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill’s dominant partnership prevented West Indies from making inroads in the 406-run chase.
- Sammy reiterated the importance of consistent bowling to pressure Indian batsmen, especially after their strong performance.
West Indies head coach Daren Sammy said the news of players having to take a pay cut was “not what you want to hear before a series” but acknowledged that Cricket West Indies (CWI) has to find ways to stay afloat financially.
Caribbean cricketers are set to endure a 25 percent pay cut following CWI’s decision to reduce retainer fees.
“As a professional, that’s not what you want to hear before a series. But again, it’s no secret to me. I think earlier this year when I was here for the Test series, we spoke about the financial situation of West Indies cricket,” Sammy said on the eve of the third and final ODI.
“I guess the administrators, the board, you’ve still got to find ways to stay afloat. If you have a business that’s not doing well financially, you’ve got to find ways to sustain it.
“Unless I say abracadabra (magic word) and then we get a big sum of money where we could entice our players to just let them know that everything’s going to be okay financially, that’s the situation we’re facing,” he added.
Addressing CWI’s Financial Challenges
Having already lost the three-match ODI series after failing to defend 405 in the second game at a batting-friendly Guwahati surface, Sammy said the West Indies bowlers need greater discipline in their lines, lengths, and plans when conditions offer little assistance.
“We still need to find ways when wickets are not really offering any assistance to the bowlers to be disciplined in our lines and lengths and the plans that we put in. “But yeah, we always knew, coming to India, it’s always a challenge, not only for us, but for most teams,” Sammy said.
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Improving Bowling Discipline
The former all-rounder also felt his team could have posted a total closer to 450 in the second match after reaching 230 at the end of 30 overs, rather than finishing on 405 for seven.
“The position we were in, especially in ODI cricket, they normally say when you find yourself in a good position on a good pitch, at 30 overs you should be able to double the score. I think at 30 overs we were 230-odd. So you were looking at 450 thereabouts.
“But the last 10 overs we only scored 70-odd runs, where it’s a time when you’re supposed to accelerate the innings.”
Reflecting On Second ODI Performance
Despite setting India a target of 406, the West Indies bowlers struggled to make inroads as Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill put on a 255-run opening stand. Gill smashed an unbeaten 223 while Rohit scored 101 as India chased down the target in 43.3 overs.
“When we came in at 400, and you’re looking at all the stats, you say India has never chased 400 before, and you’re hoping that we could go as a bowling group and get wickets up front, because that’s what you have to do to beat India in India. “You’ve got to get wickets in the powerplay, get wickets in the middle, and build that pressure with a total that is over 400.”
Sammy said the Indian openers never really gave them a chance.
“But Shubman and Rohit didn’t really give a chance. The way they batted, both of them. Rohit scored a hundred off, I think, 70-odd balls, and Shubman was even faster. So, 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 a hundred. But again, it was really tough for the bowlers, and the captain (Gill) played a really good knock. He’s been batting extremely well, especially in these conditions here.
“We need to continue to try to find ways to put the Indian batting under pressure by being a little bit more disciplined and consistent in our lines and lengths,” he added.