Expecting something special from the West Indies

by Daren Sammy

After the opening game of the inaugural ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in 2007, we thought ‘wow, this game is tailor-made for us West Indians.’Dwayne Bravo and I would talk about creating a legacy. We had the opportunity to do that in the T20 format and we grabbed that with both hands.Clive Lloyd, Sir Viv and the greats started it by winning two World Cups in the 70s, and the teams of the 80s and 90s set the standard in the Test arena.

We made T20 our own for a decade and our players went on to become some of the greatest and most sought-after in the world.In 2007, Chris Gayle scored that amazing hundred in the first game against South Africa in Johannesburg and we went on to scale great heights from there.Captaining that team was easy because I had very experienced guys who knew T20 cricket inside out.

Having the number one and two bowlers in the world didn’t hurt. Sunil Narine and Samuel Badree brought us stability – I’m a big believer that batters win you games, but bowlers win you tournamentsWhen I took over the captaincy in 2010, there was a lot of pressure on me as a player and it took me two years to earn the respect of my men.

The way we played in the final in 2012 and my own personal performance, that really changed the way the guys looked at me as a leader. My name went from Daren to captain, to skipper.One of my favourite moments was early in the 2012 final, when Ravi Rampaul started off with an outswinger to hit the off stump of Tillakaratne Dilshan.That’s my favourite because it solidified my position as leader in the team, my performances were starting to click, my men were starting to respect me.

What Ottis Gibson and I went through to win a title. My shoulders, after feeling so heavy with criticism from all over, relaxed after all that had been said about me as captain of the team.I had the privilege of taking the trophy home with me to Saint Lucia. All of Saint Lucia had come out to see me and Johnson Charles, it was special.We had a motorcade from the south of the island all the way to the north. That was something, that was truly something.

That was 2012, and 2016 was even better.This week, I was talking to a group of youngsters that I mentor in Pakistan and I was telling them about that last over in 2016. We always challenge them to hit 19 off the last over.We all wanted Marlon Samuels on strike because until then Carlos Brathwaite had not really fired, and Marlon was flying on 70-odd.

I remember Chris saying ‘wow, 19 is a lot’ but I knew if the first ball went for six, the pressure goes back on the bowler.Man oh man, I never thought we would see four sixes! That was divine intervention and we needed that after all we had been through.It’s the last memory I have in a West Indies shirt, that was my last game, and it’s a good one to remember. We created history that day, it was amazing.The sad thing is that after 2016 that team was dismantled. They brought the guys back in 2021 but they were way past their best.

We had a chance to mix the young players in with the experienced guys and we lost a massive opportunity to become stronger.But I just spoke to Nicholas Pooran and he reckons the guys are shaping up well. I have a really good feeling about this squad because we have so much talent.The batters are there as always. Kyle Mayers is such a talent and times the ball brilliantly and we know Nicholas is a match-winner.

The good thing this time round is we have bowlers who can take wickets. We didn’t know where our wickets would come from last time but this time we do.You can rely on Akeal Hosein, he’s in the top 10 in the world and Odean Smith keeps improving, so it’s about fine-tuning and getting the right combinations.I would never write off the West Indies and I have a funny feeling that something special is going to happen in Australia.