The West Indies have had a topsy-turvy ride this World Cup. They began their campaign against Ireland and lost by 4 wickets after scoring a 300-plus score. Next, they beat Pakistan comprehensively and followed it up with a mammoth win against Zimbabwe, led by Chris Gayle’s double century. But then it was an AB de Villiers blinder in the next that made them suffer a 257-run defeat.
The bowling took a beating and it is one of the biggest concerns for West Indies when they meet India next. “I think it’s not been consistent,” Darren Sammy said, speaking about his side’s bowling woes. “We don’t create enough pressure on the opposition when we bowl. When we bowl well and get it right and be consistent, we compete with the best in the world. We need to hit the right line and length, especially in the death overs, hit our yorkers and come back with a plan.
“It is quite difficult to stop the batsmen with four men outside the circle. We have to come up with a plan beforehand so that we can minimize the damage that can be done in the back-end of the innings.”
The bowlers might get some respite especially at the WACA where there will be a lot more purchase for their tall fast bowlers. Sammy was wary of India’s batting line-up and reiterated that being disciplined would hold key while bowling to them at the WACA. “Any fast bowler would be excited about bowling at the WACA. It’s one of the quickest wickets in the world, but that said, India is playing really well. It’s not that our fast bowlers will come and blast the batsmen out. You still need to put the ball in the right areas and look to get the result.”
The all-rounder was positive of his team’s result come Friday. “If we do most things well, we will compete and we will give ourselves a chance of winning. It is about putting our focus on the things that we do well consistently over a longer period of time in the match. India are obviously playing really well at the moment but we are going to enjoy another contest with them. It is a crucial match for us and we have to bring out our A game in another World Cup match,” Sammy said.
When asked to single out potential match-winners from the Indian side, Sammy instead spoke about his side’s strengths who had all the capabilities to be match-winners on their day. “If you look at our team, each player has a potential to take the match away from you. From Gayle, Smith, Marlon Samuels, Simmons, Ramdin, Sammy, Russell to Jason Holder; everybody has got the potential to take the match away.
The Indian team is good but we are not going to focus only on them. We are going to focus on what we could do and once we do that we will see different things.”
Sammy also spoke of the influence of Clive Lloyd in the dressing room. “He is one of our legends and I speak to him. He is a double World Cup winner and comes with a lot of knowledge. Whatever knowledge he could pass on we will gladly welcome. He has been good and I hope all the guys try and pick his brains because there is a lot of knowledge in there.”
