Former West Indies captain Daren Sammy feels that one can expect “something special” from the Nicholas Pooran-led side in the upcoming T20 World Cup in Australia. West Indies, the two-time T20 World Cup winners, have to go through the first round of the tournament in order to make it to the Super 12 stage.
“I just spoke to Nicholas Pooran and he reckons the guys are shaping up well. I have a really good feeling about this squad because we have so much talent. The batters are there as always. Kyle Mayers is such a talent and times the ball brilliantly and we know Nicholas is a match-winner.”The good thing this time round is we have bowlers who can take wickets. We didn’t know where our wickets would come from last time but this time we do. You can rely on Akeal Hosein, he’s in the top 10 in the world and Odean Smith keeps improving, so it’s about fine-tuning and getting the right combinations.
“I would never write off the West Indies and I have a funny feeling that something special is going to happen in Australia,” wrote Sammy in his column for the International Cricket Council (ICC) ahead of West Indies’ first match against Scotland on October 17 in Hobart.In the run-up to the T20 World Cup, West Indies have been far away from their dominating self in the shortest format of the game. They suffered losses in home series to India and New Zealand, before losing 2-0 to Australia.Moreover, in the warm-up match, they somehow managed to get the better of the UAE by 17 runs, before their warm-up match against the Netherlands was abandoned due to rain. Sammy, the captain of West Indies T20 World Cup wins in 2012 and 2016, recalled how he and former all-rounder Dwayne Bravo talked about creating a legacy for the side in T20Is.