We’ll Be Going To India With A Mindset To Win: West Indies Head Coach Darren Sammy

It was just over two months back that West Indies hit rock bottom in Tests, having been bowled out for 27 by Australia in their own backyard, and it’s only going to get more difficult from here for the Men from the Caribbean, with their next Test assignment being a two-match series away in India next month.

West Indies have played four Test series in India since the turn of this century, and have lost all four. In fact, you’ll have to go all the way back to 1983 for the last instance of West Indies winning a Test series away in India. 

However, despite the gap between the two sides being significant, the visiting head coach Darren Sammy has insisted that his side will come to India with the sole intention of winning.

"From my end, the ten days leading up to the [first] Test match [in India], we'll be drilling in all these things and planning very well as to how we're going to beat India in India," Sammy said, reported ESPNCricinfo.

"We're definitely going down there with the mindset to win. We're not just going to go down there and think, "oh, it's India". No. New Zealand went there and did incredibly well and that we should take inspiration from. But again, it's understanding the things that New Zealand did in those conditions and try to emulate it with our guys as well."

Teams have usually stacked their squad with spinners while coming to India, but, surprisingly enough, West Indies have opted to pick just one spinner, with Jomel Warrican being the sole senior specialist spinner in the entire squad. 

Explaining the rationale behind stacking the squad with seamers, Sammy said: "We have found ourselves in a position where our seam attack could operate in any conditions.

“That six-to-eight-metre length works across the world. But in our fast-bowling department, we've got four different guys who have their own variety.

"You have Shamar Joseph, who's very skiddy, Jayden, who has a strong front leg and can swing the ball both ways, then you have Alzarri Joseph with his height and the bounce he could extract. So, again, we take confidence in that, especially the way they've been bowling over the last year. The ability to take 20 wickets, because that's what you will need in India.”

Sammy insisted that, come the first Test, his team’s primary objective will be to take 20 wickets, and asserted that he has full faith in the team picked by the selectors to get the job done.

“The lines and lengths don't change in terms of that six-to-eight-metre length. Maybe it's just adjusting whether it's a touch fuller or touch further back into the pitch. I have full confidence in that and it makes me smile knowing that we go out bowling and we take 20 wickets. And that's the first objective in the Test match,” the Windies head coach said.

The two-Test series will start at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad from October 2. The second Test will be played at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi.