Top News

West Indies head coach Darren Sammy said his team will approach the T20 World Cup match against Zimbabwe with the same intent as games against India or Australia. Speaking in Mumbai, he stressed respecting opponents, sticking to processes and executing plans in the unpredictable T20 format.

Mumbai: West Indies head coach Darren Sammy stated he was not going to take any opposition lightly and they would approach the match against Zimbabwe with the same intent as the games against other outfits.

Sammy was speaking to the media at the pre-match presser at the Wankhede Stadium.

“Respect the opposition, but believe in yourself, believe in your processes and your execution. Tomorrow, we approach it the same way we would approach a game against India or Australia or whoever. Like us, they are very confident, they are playing some good cricket.

And I think I've said it before, T20 is a format that brings teams closer together. There is no clear-cut winner, you've got to go out on the day and execute your plans. Otherwise, you could lose the match,” he added.

When asked about the pre-seedings for the Super Eights and how it affects their preparation, Sammy felt they are there to do a professional job.

“Ideally, I guess in sports, you seldom get the top teams in the different groups in the same. But look, my team knows they're just here to play a World Cup. We've got Zimbabwe tomorrow, we've got South Africa and then India.

I think I was here before and I said, these are teams for us. If you've got the finalists of the last World Cup, if you're going to win, you've got to play what's in front of you. Not take it for granted, not take anybody lightly.

If you start to bring in other factors, it takes you off track on your focus. For us, our focus is Zimbabwe tomorrow and do everything in our power to come out victorious. Down the line, would you want something like this to be addressed to our team? I guess if you take the logistics that comes into it,” he added.

Sammy opined that the pre-seedings only motivates the teams to do their best.

“If we were not seeded or so and I saw this person is going to play there, that gives me motivation. I'm pretty sure Zimbabwe looking at that group there gave them motivation and inspiration to come out and play the way they played. I do understand from the logistics standpoint, trying to give the fans the surety. That's not my thing. If you ask me about power play, I could probably answer you better,” he added.

Also Watch:

The coach gave a thumbs up to Romario Shepherd’s presence in the team.

“He practiced well yesterday. I think he bowled quite well, hit the ball very cleanly. The good thing for us is everybody is available for selection. Going into the Super 8, that's what we want.

I'm glad to know and happy to know that all my soldiers are ready to go out to war. Coach, have you been planning for the tall Zimbabwe fast bowler? And secondly, what does Zimbabwe coming here in Super 8 for the first time mean for the growth of World Ticket and for the smaller team to be there? We plan for every single player. Not only him, he's the next factor,” he added.