West Indies have not won an ODI series in India for 24 years, but coach Daren Sammy sees the upcoming three match contest as an opportunity to measure his side’s progress….reports Africa Daily News Desk
West Indies head coach Daren Sammy believes the upcoming three match ODI series against India presents his team with an opportunity to test its progress against the world’s No. 1 side and end a 24 year wait for a series victory in India.
The three ODIs will be played in Thiruvananthapuram on September 27, Guwahati on September 30 and New Chandigarh on October 3.
Sammy acknowledged the challenge of facing India in their own conditions but said the series would provide an important measure of where West Indies stand in international one day cricket.
“Playing in India is always a great series to take part in. India being the number one team,” Sammy said in a clip shared by Cricket West Indies ahead of the series.
“For us to come out here, it’s been 24 years; we’ve not won a series here in India. So it’s a great opportunity for us as a team to come out here and challenge ourselves and measure up to where we are in the world in one day cricket,” he added.
West Indies have made progress during the ODI qualification cycle but finished six points short of automatic qualification for the next World Cup. They will instead have to go through the qualifiers next year.
Sammy said the team had made significant progress after initially finding itself well behind in the qualification standings.
“Starting from where we were back then, which was, I think, 19 or 20 points behind, and accumulating those points, I thought we made a lot of strides in making a claim to automatic qualification,” he said.
The India series will also give West Indies an opportunity to assess players and combinations ahead of the qualifiers. Sammy said the team’s priority was to continue developing its squad and ensure players could adapt to different roles.
“Heading into the qualifiers in February, our number one focus is 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.
Sammy also pointed to improvements in the batting department, highlighting the contributions of Shai Hope and Keacy Carty as well as other players who have scored centuries during the qualification campaign.
“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,” he said.
The coach also welcomed the return of fast bowler Alzarri Joseph, who was part of Antigua’s Caribbean Premier League title winning campaign.
Young players, including Jewel Andrew, are also expected to receive opportunities during the series as West Indies continue to build their squad.
“Everybody will be getting an opportunity. Because after that, I think this is probably our last ODI series. It is our last ODI series of the year,” Sammy said.
The West Indies ODI squad will be led by Hope, with John Campbell returning after missing the final two ODIs against New Zealand because of a hamstring injury. Jewel Andrew replaces Ackeem Auguste, who is recovering from surgery.
Shimron Hetmyer has been rested for the ODI series and will join the squad for the subsequent T20I matches.
The India tour will continue with five T20Is between October 6 and 17 in Lucknow, Ranchi, Indore, Hyderabad and Bengaluru.
The West Indies squad left the Caribbean on September 21 and arrived in Thiruvananthapuram on September 23 ahead of the opening ODI.
