8 months ago
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BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (CMC):
West Indies white-ball coach Darren Sammy has praised the strength of the regional side’s batting ahead of the Twenty20 World Cup but said adjustments were needed in the bowling department in order to make the side a truly formidable unit for the June showpiece.
The Caribbean side captured all three of the series they contested last year against heavyweights South Africa, India, and England, winning eight of the 13 T20 Internationals up for grabs.
And while they tasted defeat at the hands of Australia in a three-match series Down Under last month, Sammy said the batting had continued to impress.
“The way my batters batted, I think it’s the first time a team had scored over 200 three consecutive times whether batting first or chasing, and it speaks volumes of the power that we have in that squad,” Sammy said.
“Obviously, we need to tinker and work on some different bowling roles and that myself, James Franklin, and the captain (Rovman Powell) have been speaking to various persons that we want to execute different roles.
“I’ve been speaking and working diligently with our analysts looking at grounds, different venues we’re going to have [for the T20 World Cup], and the different dimensions and different conditions in the surface and making sure we have the right personnel to fill in those key roles.”
West Indies ended on 202 in pursuit of 214 in Hobart and then gathered 207 in the second T20 International in Adelaide after the Aussies piled up 241.
In the Perth finale, West Indies stormed to 220, batting first, to beat Australia by 37 runs and salvage some pride from the series.
As joint hosts, West Indies enter the T20 World Cup from June 1-29 as one of the favourites and will do battle in Group C with New Zealand, Afghanistan, Papua New Guinea, and minnows Uganda.
Sammy, appointed to the top spot last year, said preparations for the showpiece were already intense, with plenty of work being undertaken behind the scenes.
PREPARATION GOING GOOD
“The preparation both on and off the field is going good,” said Sammy, a two-time former World Cup-winning captain.
“Leading up closer to the World Cup, I think a few of my boys will be in the IPL playing. We have a series probably just before the World Cup – three matches against South Africa – so building up to that, we’ll be ready.
“And again, we’re at home, we know the conditions, it’s not about adapting. It’s just about making sure we execute well when the day comes.”
West Indies won the 2012 T20 World Cup in Colombo and repeated the success four years later in India.
However, they have suffered massive disappointments in the last two events – failing to get out of the group stage of the 2021 edition and then missing out on qualifying for the group stage a year later in Australia.
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