DARREN Sammy, captain of West Indies World T20 team, believes that his side has the all-round fire power to see his side reclaiming the trophy they first won in 2012. Sammy is currently in Guyana to play in the Unity Cricket match at the Guyana National Stadium tonight.
The sixth edition of the ICC’s showpiece will be played in India, with West Indies being grouped with 2010 winners England, defending champions Sri Lanka and 2009 edition third-place finishers South Africa.
The 32-year-old St Lucian Sammy will have Samuel Badree, Sulieman Benn, Darren Bravo, Dwayne Bravo, Andre Fletcher, Chris Gayle, Jason Holder, Sunil Narine, Kieron Pollard, Denesh Ramdin, Andre Russell, Marlon Samuels, Lendl Simmons and Jerome Taylor as his teammates in India.
“The squad was difficult to pick,” Sammy told reporters at the 704 Sports Bar, speaking on the composition of the team.
“Because of how our players have evolved around the world but I think in the end the selectors came up with a good team that could go out and win the World Cup in India,” said Sammy…
The West Indies will enter the tournament as ICC’s number one World T20 team and Sammy, who captained the team in 2012, added, “We’re the number one T20 team in the world, so, obviously with that comes high expectations.
The last T20 World Cup (2014), we were underdogs even though we were defending champions and this will be a test of strength and once this group play to their potential, I believe we could go out and win the World Cup.”
“If you’re number one or number eight you go into a tournament; you have your goals, and the fact that we have some of the best players in the world in our squad, once we put that out on the field we will be fine,” the all-rounder said.
With a wide smile, Sammy was overjoyed at the team selected, more so, stating “every member on our team is a match-winner and as a captain, it gives you the confidence to know you have guys you can depend on.
“Happy to have Sunil Narine!”
Despite his current status of suspension, the West Indies Cricket Board and its selectors named off-spinner Sunil Narine in the squad.
Narine was reported for a suspect action during the third ODI on West Indies tour to Sri Lanka in November. An independent assessment revealed that all variations of his deliveries exceeded the 15-degree limit.
“Sunil has been a very important member in our limited over squad, especially in India where he has done so well. When Narine comes on, no matter what the rate is, everything just slows down. Not only Narine, but (Samuel) Badree; that’s the number one and two T20 bowlers in the world,” Sammy highlighted.
Narine, 27, was seen by Sammy as a “bigger plus to us because the team has seasoned T20 players and all the guys have understood their role in the team. It’s just a few inches give and take, like a player who now comes in like Jason Holder who is playing his first T20 World Cup”
The West Indies squad will assemble in the UAE for a preparatory camp between February 22 and March 6, and will travel to India on March 7.
West Indies are scheduled to play two warm-up matches in Kolkata, against India and Australia on March 10 and March 13 respectively, before travelling to Mumbai for their first league match against England on March 16.
West Indies squad: Darren Sammy (capt.), Samuel Badree, Sulieman Benn, Darren Bravo, Dwayne Bravo, Andre Fletcher, Chris Gayle, Jason Holder, Sunil Narine, Kieron Pollard, Denesh Ramdin, Andre Russell, Marlon Samuels, Lendl Simmons and Jerome Taylor.

By Rawle Toney