Mirpur: West Indies captain Darren Sammy wasn't amused when he heard that Suresh Raina has dubbed his batsmen as “six hitters” and dared the Indian bowlers to stop them from hitting the maximums when they clash in the World T20 here tomorrow.
“We don't care much about what Raina thinks. If he thinks we are only six hitters, then stop us from hitting sixes,” Sammy replied when asked about his batsmen inability to rotate strike against spinners.
As usual, the affable West Indies skipper seemed to be in good mood as he answered the questions with a bit of fun and a lot of seriousness.
What's there on Chris Gayle's mind, asked a scribe. “I am not Jesus Christ! I don't know what's going on in his mind,” he laughed and replied.
Then he got serious. “But I know he (Gayle) is really pumped up to play here. Whenever he is playing for the West Indies, he is very pumped up. And tomorrow's game everyone will be pumped up.”
Will India be easy opponents, was what he was asked first up at the media conference.
“You seriously ask that question? No, I don't think any team is an easy opponent. India started off on a winning note and most likely they will have a lot of confidence going into the game. We know what we are capable of doing and we have been playing some good T20 cricket and the guys are confident that we would come good once we play to our full potential.”
West Indies have some world beaters in the shortest format and that gives the captain of the defending champions side to remain confident about team's chances.
“We have top T20 players who have played around the world. We have Gayle, Narine, Bravos all of them have a lot of experience playing T20. With the two openers, we have guys who can give us great impetus in the first six overs. Then we have Marlon, Bravo and myself to finish the innings,” Sammy said.
“If you look at our bowling unit, we have Narine, who is to me the No 1 bowler in this format. Badree, Bravo, and we have a young guy called Krishmar Santokie, who could have a great impact in this tournament. So we are happy with the balance of our side. And yes we are a very good team especially in this format,” Sammy said.
