Bridgetown, Barbados, Jul 5 : His own form with the bat may still be suffering, but West Indies captain Darren Sammy felt his batsmen stepped up for the first time in the drawn second Test against India.
The victim of a wicked yorker from Indian bowling hero Ishant Sharma in the second innings, Sammy was dismissed for a five-ball duck as his side tried to hold on in a tense finish under gloomy skies on Saturday at Kensington Oval.
But he had cause for optimism entering the final Test, starting on Wednesday at Windsor Park in Dominica, following solid knocks from Marlon Samuels, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Darren Bravo, and Carlton Baugh Jr.
"We could do much, much better, but we have seen guys taking responsibility for putting runs on the board in this Test," he said."Samuels played a good innings for us. He batted long. His partnership with Shiv (Chanderpaul) in the first innings was good. Then we had young Bravo and Carlton doing the same in the second innings.
"We bowled out India for 201 in the first innings, and I think we should have led India by at least 100.
"We still have a lot of room for improvement because we are not getting over the 300-run threshold, but our bowlers are doing well.
"We will only beat India when we as a batting unit put runs on the board. More or less, I think we had more positives, so we will strive on them, and try to maximise on them in the next game."
One of the reasons for West Indies misfiring in their batting is the lack of runs from Ramnaresh Sarwan, one of their most experienced batsmen.
He has managed just 29 runs at an average of 7.25 in his four innings in the first two Tests, making his place in the side extremely vulnerable, but Sammy offered him support.
"He is one of our most experienced players," said Sammy. "We all know he is going through a lean patch right now. We are still giving him the encouragement he needs." AFP
