India and West Indies are set to square off in a do-or-die Super 8 clash of the T20 World Cup 2026 at the iconic Eden Gardens, Kolkata on Sunday (March 1).
On the eve of the virtual quarterfinal, West Indies head coach Daren Sammy addressed a press conference, where he backed the current crop of players to replicate the feat of 2016.
A decade ago, the Caribbean side, led by Sammy, had knocked MS Dhoni’s India out of the T20 World Cup semi-finals in front of a packed Wankhede Stadium.
“Well, I would say history can repeat itself. Although it was a different venue, but it’s two different teams. Two teams trying to move on in the tournament,” Sammy told reporters.
He expressed his excitement about playing India in a pressure-cooker scenario. “You’re absolutely right, I still think in order for you to win this tournament, you have to go through India at some point. Tomorrow is that day for us and we’ve got to play a good game of cricket in order to come out victorious. I’m excited for the contest,” Sammy added.
The West Indies coach believes the battle would be like the one between 'David and Goliath' against fan favourites Men in Blue at their own home turf.
“I am pretty sure they will have 80,000 (67,000) here tomorrow and then another 1.4 billion supporting India. So it will still feel as a David and Goliath showdown, but like I said in 2016, David beat the Goliath. That’s what I’m going to tell my boys tomorrow.”
Sammy said coming back to Eden Gardens brings good memories. “I love being here (Kolkata). They still stop by and say “best of luck.” But I ask them (Kolkata fans), “do you mean it? And then they say, yes, whoever plays well.”
Sammy is a proud Caribbean, who knows that love for his team stems from the kind of cricket his legendary predecessors showcased.
“It is more or less, it says, you know, what our greats have done playing in India, like Clive Lloyd, Sir Viv (Richards) and those guys. You know, the mark they left on the Indian fans before, we are still benefiting from it.”
He also knows that after India, West Indies are the second most loved team in this country. “But, yeah, I’m not surprised. Obviously, we are most people’s second favourite team, but, you know, we’re playing against, you know, their favourites. So the mindset of the camp is good.”
Sammy feels that something special might just be round the corner as he cited the "focused" mindset of his players.
“You know, I think it was here we started when I said, I feel something special is about to happen. I say so because of the focus I saw in the team, the mindset, the attention to detail, the attention to their preparation. And I still believe that.”
When a reporter asked what dance number will his team groove to if they win on Sunday, Sammy replied: “I’m not sure about any song, but we do have our rituals we do when we win. I still don’t know the words of the song, but I’m enjoying it. But, yeah, it will be a massive, massive, massive celebration for us to get through to the semifinals.”
But he won’t mind if the West Indies bowlers make the Indian batters dance to their tunes. “What time is it? 7 o’clock? Yeah, in just over 26 hours, the bell will ring here at Kolkata, and the dance will start. That’s where the dancing will happen on the cricket field. And, hopefully, west Indies dance the best,” Sammy said.
(With PTI Inputs)
