Providence (Guyana): West Indies head coach Daren Sammy believed that his side had the bowling arsenal to take 20 wickets in a Test match in India and hoped that his side could take some inspiration from what New Zealand were able to do last year on the Indian shores. New Zealand became the first team to hand India a 3-0 whitewash at home in a Test series last year, throwing a spanner in their plans to qualify for the World Test Championship (WTC) final. However, the West Indies will be up against a rejuvenated Indian team, bereft of seniors, three of them who have retired.
“We have found ourselves in a position where our seam attack could operate in any conditions,” Sammy said in a press conference. “That six-to-eight-metre length works across the world. But in our fast-bowling department, we’ve got four different guys who have their own variety,”
“You have Shamar Joseph, who’s very skiddy, Jayden, who has a strong front leg and can swing the ball both ways, then you have Alzarri Joseph with his height and the bounce he could extract. So, again, we take confidence in that, especially the way they’ve been bowling over the last year.
“The ability to take 20 wickets, because that’s what you will need in India. If you can’t take 20 wickets in India, you are on the back foot and we have a bowling line-up of that, especially from the seam department, that could take 20 wickets.
“The process remains the same. The lines and lengths don’t change in terms of that six-to-eight-metre length. Maybe it’s just adjusting whether it’s a touch fuller or touch further back into the pitch. I have full confidence in that and it makes me smile knowing that we go out bowling and we take 20 wickets. And that’s the first objective in the Test match,” he added.
Sammy oozed confidence about a pace-heavy bowling attack, which did well against Australia in June-July but it was their batting that came apart in those three matches against the 2023 Test champions.
The visitors have dropped their former captain, Kraigg Brathwaite, having not played him in the third Test against Australia, right after the opening batter played his 100th match in the whites. The West Indies have recalled Tagenarine Chanderpaul and Alick Athanaze, hoping for stability at the top and more than their bowling, their batting will need to come to the party, especially if the hosts prepare rank turners.
For Sammy, however, all his plans and preparations will be done with the mindset of how they can beat the Indians on their home soil and not treating it just as a tour to gain experience from. “From my end, the ten days leading up to the [first] Test match [in India], we’ll be drilling in all these things and planning very well as to how we’re going to beat India in India
“We’re definitely going down there with the mindset to win. We’re not just going to go down there and think, “oh, it’s India”. No. New Zealand went there and did incredibly well and that we should take inspiration from. But again, it’s understanding the things that New Zealand did in those conditions and try to emulate it with our guys as well,” he added.
This will be the first time that a West Indies team will be travelling to India for a Test series since the 2018/19 tour and having lost 0-3 to Australia, the visitors will hope to win at least one Test out of the two, to get on the board in the new WTC cycle. The two-match series begins in Ahmedabad on October 2.
West Indies squad for India Tests: Roston Chase (c), Jomel Warrican (vc), Kevlon Anderson, Alick Athanaze, John Campbell, Tagenarine Chanderpaul, Justin Greaves, Sha Hope, Tevin Imlach, Alzarri Joseph, Shamar Joseph, Brandon King, Anderson Phillip, Khary Pierre, Jayden Seales
