Published: Apr 04, 2016, 09:00 AM (IST)
Edited: Apr 04, 2016, 07:11 AM (IST)
You could see this coming from Darren Sammy. There was a hint when Chris Gayle had an uncharacteristic outburst at West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) last year after pulling off a sensational assault on South Africa. Expressing his pain and anguish over the axing of Dwayne Bravo and Kieron Pollard, Gayle said at the post-match presentation: “It [the dual axing] really hurts deeply inside, and that’s the reason I actually wanted to win the series. We have the best team here, and to see those two guys excluded is sad for West Indies cricket.” FULL CRICKET SCORECARD: England vs West Indies, ICC World T20 2016, Final at Kolkata
But this was not Gayle. This was Sammy, who, just like Gayle, comes across as one of those ‘cool’ giants from the Caribbean. Unlike Gayle, however, Sammy has a World title under his belt, and he has become the first captain in the history of ICC World T20 to win the title twice. What was more, Sammy had done it without significant support from WICB. In fact, the support was so meagre that they did not have uniforms when they left for the tournament. READ: Darren Sammy’s speech after West Indies’ win in T20 World Cup 2016 final: Full transcript
The anger, the determination, everything had been simmering. In an article on ESPNCricinfo, Mark Nicholas had written (in these exact words): “West Indies are short of brains but have IPL history in their ranks.” READ: England vs West Indies, ICC T20 World Cup 2016 Final, Highlights
The statement had hurt the ego of West Indians to such an extent that Sammy mentioned it in his speech. In other words, Sammy led a side ignored by the board, underestimated by media, and generally perceived as a side classified as a pool mercurial mavericks capable of winning matches single-handedly — but not a champion team. READ: Marlon Samuels, Carlos Brathwaite massacre England as West Indies win ICC T20 World Cup 2016
Sammy had started his mission with an emphatic statement: “We’re a team of 15 match-winners.” Indeed, when the world had expected Gayle to lead the charge in the semi-final against India, the big man failed; instead, the chase was led by Johnson Charles, Lendl Simmons, and Andre Russell. In the final, when Gayle, Charles, Simmons, and Russell all failed, Marlon Samuels and Dwayne Bravo set up the base before Carlos Brathwaite finished things off. And while we are still on this, let us not forget Andre Fletcher’s innings against Sri Lanka. READ: T20 World Cup 2016 Final: Darren Sammy says West Indies showed depth in T20Is
But they were not merely a bunch of hard-hitting batsmen, either. They boasted of a spin pair that did a phenomenal job throughout the tournament, which is not a compliment you usually dish out to the men from the Caribbean. While Samuel Badree has easily been the bowler of the tournament, Sulieman Benn played the perfect foil. It helped that fast bowlers — Bravo, Russell, and Brathwaite — are match-winners with bat as well. Denesh Ramdin was neat behind the stumps, and did not concede a bye in the final. READ: ICC T20 World Cup 2016, Women’s World T20, Under-19 World Cup should help galvanise West Indies cricket
But what about Sammy himself? He got out thrice and scored 8. His series bowling figures read 3-0-31-1. He held two catches. That does not make him a match-winner. Those numbers are more befitting of Rawl Lewis, the current West Indian manager.
Sammy’s impact lay elsewhere. The world has seen Sammy win, or at least impact, matches with bat and ball. It was a remarkably poor tournament by his standards. His impact lay elsewhere: he turned his band of “15 match-winners” into a match-winning side. These are cricketers who seldom play together at international level.
Sammy did not win a match. He was not a “match-winner” this time. Instead, he was a “tournament-winner.”
And when he took up the microphone and asked Nasser Hussain: “Nas, do you really want me to tell you? Okay,” he began his route to a second victory.
Only this time it was just the beginning. One hopes it does not fizzle out the way it did after 2012.
For whatever West Indies cricket might have lost, they still have Darren Sammy.
(Abhishek Mukherjee is the Chief Editor at CricketCountry and CricLife. He blogs here and can be followed on Twitter here.)
