Mirpur: It will be another test for India’s batting against a formidable West Indies bowling attack at the Sher-E-Bangla National Stadium on Sunday.
Though defending champions West Indies has a strong all-round squad, their skipper Darren Sammy is wary about India, especially after their win over Pakistan. “I don’t think any team is an easy opponent. India started off on a winning note and they will have a lot of confidence going into the game. We know what we are capable of doing as we have been playing some good T20 cricket and the guys are confident that we would come good once we play to our full potential,” said Sammy, who led the Caribbeans to title triumph in the last World Twenty20 Cup in Sri Lanka.
“This time around, our players are a lot more experienced but last time, our key players had a brilliant tournament. And the key was even though someone did not perform in a match, we stuck together as a team. I think this time it is even more important that our key guys perform consistently. As a team we now have more belief that we could come out there and defend the trophy. We have to focus on each game, and tomorrow all our focus is on India. After we do that we again sit together and look at the roadmap to the title and come up with a plan for the next match,” Sammy said.
Suresh Raina, one of the key performers in India’s impressive victory over Pakistan, does not believe that West Indies can be too difficult a side to be beaten as they are a familiar team. “We play a lot against them. We know a lot about their players and we are aware who can be dangerous. They are also aware which spinner is good and what to do against that particular bowler. As I said earlier, we have to be in a positive frame of mind throughout 40 overs and whoever is going to lose the focus may go down.”
Talking about the balance of his team, a proud Sammy said: “We have top T20 players who have played around the world. We have Chris Gayle, Sunil Narine and Bravos and all of them have a lot of experience playing T20. With the two openers, we have guys who can give us great impetus in the first six overs.
“Then we have Marlon, Bravo and myself to finish the innings. If you look at our bowling unit, we have Narine who is to me the No 1 bowler in this format. Apart from Badree and Bravo, we have a young guy called Krishman Santokie who could have a great impact in this tournament. So we are happy with the balance of our side. And yes, we are a very good team especially in this format.”
