Sammy: India “perfect test” ahead of World Cup Qualifiers

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, India (CMC):

West Indies head coach Daren Sammy will be using the upcoming three-match One Day International series against India as a gauge to determine how competitive the regional side can be against the top teams in the world.

The Windies will take on the home side in the first ODI on Sunday in search of a first series win on the subcontinent in 24 years.

Regardless of the outcome of the series, the West Indies will have to book their spot in the 2027 ICC World Cup in South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Namibia by going through the Qualifiers, which bowl off next February.

Speaking to the media yesterday, Sammy said coming up against the number-one-ranked ODI side in the world was a challenge and a test the team was eagerly looking forward to.

“This is a great opportunity against the number one team in the world. It’s been 24 years we haven’t won a series here in India, so it’s a great opportunity for us as a team to come out here and challenge ourselves and measure up ourselves as to where we’re at in One Day cricket,” Sammy said.

“If you have to win a major ICC event, especially in the white ball format, you have to beat India, and playing them here at home in their conditions and performing well and winning gives us a fair idea as to what we can do as a team and how capable we are in competing on the world stage and heading into the Qualifiers in February.

“That is our number one focus: continuing to fine-tune the team so that when we go to the Qualifiers, we put ourselves in the position to book our ticket to South Africa,” he added.

Sammy revealed that with the ODI series against India being the last of the year and possibly the last before the Qualifiers, every member of the 15-man squad would be given an opportunity to contribute.

He said this would provide a clearer picture of what the team taking part in the Qualifiers would look like.

“We want to give everybody an opportunity during those three games ... everybody will be getting an opportunity because this is our last ODI series of the year and looking at our schedule going into the Qualifiers, we may not have another ODI series, so this last test against India is very important in the general context of things to see where we’re at,” Sammy said.