West Indies head coach Daren Sammy praised his team for its performance in the recent T20I series in India, after the Men in Blue demolished New Zealand in the third T20I of the ongoing five-game series. This game was played in Wellington on October 27, 2026.
Thanks to Daryl Mitchell’s 89*, 40 by Finn Allen, and 39* by Bevon Jacobs, New Zealand posted 198/3 in 20 overs after being asked to bat first.
In response, India posted a world-record 118/0 in the first 6 overs of the powerplay thanks to the blitz of Vaibhav Sooryavanshi and Abhishek Sharma on New Zealand bowlers. The duo added 133 runs for the first wicket before Sooryavanshi fell for 19-ball 45 runs.
But Abhishek Sharma continued on and smashed 113 in 38 balls with 11 sixes and 9 fours as India overhauled the target with 6 wickets in hand and in 13.2 overs. With this win, India went 3-0 up in the five-T20I series against New Zealand, pocketing the series with two games to go.
While every former cricketer and cricket fan was praising the Indian team for their dominating win over New Zealand, West Indies head coach Daren Sammy went on a different tangent, praising his own team’s performance in the recent T20I series in India.
The five-game T20I series between India and West Indies saw high-scoring encounters on batting-friendly surfaces. It saw the West Indies successfully chasing a 250-run target in Ranchi and then making 247 in Hyderabad. The series ended in a 2-2 draw, as the fifth match in Bengaluru was rained out.
Daren Sammy recounted the West Indies’ performances in India with emphasis on boundary sizes, batting-friendly pitches, and the dew factor in the second innings.
“Wow…. That’s why I praised my team for what they accomplished in India. India is a dangerous team. #justwow 1. Smaller boundaries 2. Batting paradise pitches 3. Wet ball for bowlers,” Daren Sammy posted.
Fans on social media were not happy with Daren Sammy’s main character syndrome, where, despite him calling India a dangerous team, he complemented the Men in Blue side by praising the West Indies team’s performance.
Sammy posted a follow-up message but didn’t praise the Indian team, stating, "Different continent, different continent, same approach." With bigger boundaries and slightly less batter-friendly pitches, nothing has changed. Bowlers are still under pressure. Execute or be executed…”
However, Indian team fans were not happy with Daren Sammy’s X posts giving backhanded compliments to the Indian team for their Wellington T20I win. They shared their displeasure on social media.
Here are the posts:
