"You Have To Beat India If You Want To Win A Major ICC Event": West Indies Coach Darren Sammy Ahead Of 1st ODI

Ahead of the away India ODI series, West Indian head coach Daren Sammy said that the series will serve as a big chance to challenge themselves and measure up where they are in the format, noting that beating the Men in Blue is important if a team wants to win a major ICC trophy. West Indies will continue their road to the 2027 ODI World Cup with a three-match ODI series, with the first ODI at Thiruvananthapuram on Sunday. 

West Indies missed out on the automatic qualification for the 2027 showpiece event to be co-hosted by South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia, as they are number 10 in ODI rankings. Only top eight teams, besides the co-hosts SA, earned the privilege of direct qualifcation.

Sammy views this series as a vital part of the team's WC preparation, saying, as quoted by Cricinfo, that it is a great chance for them to win their first ODI series in India after 24 years.

"It is 24 years since we have won a series here in India," Sammy said ahead of the first ODI, as quoted by Cricinfo. "So it is a great opportunity for us as a team to come out here and challenge ourselves and measure ourselves as to where we are in ODIs. And I think it is a great opportunity for us, the players that we have, to come and put in a good show against India and look to win a series, something we've not done in 24 years."

"If you have to win a major ICC event, especially in the white-ball format, you have to beat India," he said. "And we are playing them here at home in their conditions, and performing well and winning gives us a fair idea as to what we could do as a team and how capable we are in competing on the world stage. Heading into the qualifiers in February, you know, that is our number one focus - continuing to fine-tune the team so that when we go to the qualifiers, we put ourselves in a position to book our ticket to South Africa," added the two-time T20 World Cup champion.

Sammy feels encouraged by his team's progress, saying that while they have not made it to the World Cup, they have "made some strides" in ODI set-up, with several batters like Shai Hope, Amir Jangoo, Sherfane Rutherford stepping up with the bat and veteran pacer Alzarri Joseph also doing well.

"The reality of the situation [is] we've not made it," Sammy said. "However, if we have to look back as to where we were and what we have been able to achieve as an ODI team, we've made some strides. Missing automatic qualification by six points, starting from where we were back then, which was, I think, 19 or 20 points behind, and accumulating those points, I thought we made a lot of strides in making a claim to automatic qualification."

"Shai Hope is not the only one scoring hundreds. We have gotten hundreds from different players... Amir Jangoo, the way he's played, we've seen a glimpse of Sherfane [Rutherford]. I think in 2024-2025, we were looking for that type of form. Alzarri Joseph is back bowling well, just helped Antigua win a CPL title. So yes, we want to give everybody an opportunity in those three games," he added.

Sammy has also been pleased with the emergence of young wrist spinner Vitel Lawes, with the 19-year-old making his debut against New Zealand and picking up eight wickets in five games back in July. NZ emerged victorious 3-2 in that competitive series.

"Vitel, to me, he is a find for us. What we saw in him that caused him to debut against New Zealand was all part of the planning and the processes we put in place. You have heard me for years talking about a wrist spinner in the West Indies team. And Vitel, he came in and he immediately had an impact on the bowling unit for us. 

Still got a long way to go, but we will continue with his development through either playing games or the specific work we have put in place for him. He has worked really well with Nikita Miller and Ravi Rampaul here on tour. So yes, we will continue creating those opportunities for him, and hopefully he can continue to grow. A little bit fast-tracked, but we're pleased with what he has done so far," he signed off.

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