CASTRIES, St Lucia (CMC) – West Indies Twenty20 captain Darren Sammy says his blistering batting performances in the recently concluded World Twenty20 in Bangladesh have stemmed from a new clarity in thinking.Speaking to CMC Sports in his first interview since returning from Bangladesh with the West Indies team, Sammy said that he had taken a new approach to his batting in T20s.
“Right now, when I go to the wicket I have a clear idea of how I want to play,” said the Windies skipper, while witnessing the final of the Secondary Schools Under-19 competition at the Gros-Islet Playing Field.
“It’s something I have developed. In the absence of Kieron Pollard and these guys, my role is to finish the innings whether we are batting first or chasing runs.”
Sammy played two scintillating innings as he helped West Indies advance to the semi-finals of the tournament. He smashed an unbeaten 34 from 13 balls against Australia to get the Caribbean side home with two balls to spare and returned against Pakistan to belt a career-best 42 not out off 20 balls, to lay the groundwork for the Windies’ 84 run triumph.
They lost to eventual champions Sri Lanka by 27 runs on the Duckworth/Lewis method in the first semi-final, after rain and hailstorm ended play prematurely with West Indies 80 for four off 13.5 overs, chasing a target of 161.
“I am very proud of the team. We went to Bangladesh with one mission to retain the title and although the weather played a part which we had no control over, yet we lost by 27 runs and had 27 dot balls,” he pointed out.
“I still believe we would have gotten home. That’s the kind of self-belief we had in the dressing room at this present moment. I am very proud to see how we went about playing in this tournament.
“But it is not only the cricket but the team spirit. The unity was very evident out there on the cricket field.”
Sammy finished the tournament with a strike rate of 224.44 and was included in the ICC World Team-of-the-Tournament.