Windies meet India in semis

Windies meet India in semis


...Sammy dubs it the clash of David and Goliath
Vinode Mamchan
Published: Guardian
Thursday, March 31, 2016

Chris Gayle means business even at training yesterday as the West Indies prepares for its semifinal showdown with host India in the World T20 tournament in Mumbai. Photo: Getty Images

West Indies captain Darren Sammy has admitted that his team is seen as underdogs going into today’s ICC World T20 semi-final against favourites and host India at the Wankhede stadium in Mumbai, but says an upset is on the cards.

As India’s entertainment capital grinds to a halt tonight, Sammy will walk out to do the toss against India’s demi-God Mahendra Singh Dhoni at 7.30pm (10:00 am TT time). The St. Lucian knows that he is up against it, but was quick to remind the media who won the battle then. He said: “I think the people who measures these things has given India an 80-20 percent chance of winning the match. It feels like David and Goliath, but people forget that Goliath won the battle.

We have a lot of respect for India, as many of our players play here in the IPL and we have a good camaraderie with the Indian players. It should be a great game and where else is better than Mumbai which has the best pitch in India.”

Sammy continued: “As I always say no matter what people think, once we believe in ourselves and I think as a group we believe in ourselves, we will do well. We believe in the talent we have. Cricket is played on the pitch we can talk how much we want. I can talk a good game, but the cricket has to take place on the pitch.”

Sammy is fond of the Mumbai pitch, but says his team is just ready to play on any surface. “To be honest, I just want 22 yards long and six feet wide and that is a good cricket pitch. Whatever is given we are ready to play cricket.”

Chairman of selectors, the legendary Clive Lloyd is in India with the team and has been very active in terms of mentoring and Sammy thinks he can bring an edge going into this crucial clash. “It has been good having a man like Clive Lloyd in the dressing room. He speaks when he see it fit and I remember he said some good encouraging words which the guys took with them to the field, during our title win in 2012. Tonight, I will pick his brains again and see where I can improve leading into the game.”

Sammy made no secret about the composition of his pointing out that the West Indies team is packed with match winners, just as the Indians and once they fire, the West Indies will reach the finals. “You have two sides and when it comes to experience the two teams are well stacked. We have a lot of experience with our players playing all over the world and the Indians have played many matches in the IPL.

“When you have this at your disposal, it is important to also have the tactical awareness to go with it. What you have in the dressing room in terms of (Chris) Gayle, Dwayne Bravo, Samuel Badree and others are great, but you need to have that tactical awareness to lead into victory.”

The West Indies finalised their preparations at the Wankhede yesterday and they are expected to make a forced change with Lendl Simmons coming in for the injured Andre Fletcher.

The Indians were also at the same venue and news coming out of their dressing room was that Yuvraj Singh is now officially out and he has been replaced by Manish Pandey.

Teams

West Indies: Darren Sammy (Captain), Samuel Badree, Sulieman Benn, Carlos Brathwaite, Dwayne Bravo, Johnson Charles, Chris Gayle, Jason Holder, Evin Lewis, Ashley Nurse, Denesh Ramdin, Andre Russell, Marlon Samuels, Lendl Simmons and Jerome Taylor.

India: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain), Ravichandran Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah, Shikhar Dhawan, Harbhajan Singh, Ravindra Jadeja, Virat Kohli, Mohammed Shami, Pawan Negi, Ashish Nehra, Hardik Pandya, Ajinkya Rahane, Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma and Manish Pandey.

www.guardian.co.tt/sport/2016-03-31/windies-meet-india-semis