Sylhet, Nov 4 (IANS) West Indies head coach Daren Sammy believes his side is ‘right on course’ to meet the target it set for the current World Test Championship (WTC) cycle. West Indies have already ensured they will finish the calendar year without losing a Test series for the first time since 1994.
They now head into the second and final Test in Sylhet, starting Thursday, looking to complete a 2-0 sweep. “It is the first time since 1994 (that) we have finished a calendar year without losing a series. In 1994, (Shivnarine) Chanderpaul was making his debut.
“So (it’s the) little things like that that the team has already achieved, because we can’t lose the series. It is progress -- what we have been through and the challenges we face and what we have to do despite all those challenges,” Sammy told reporters in a press conference on Wednesday.
Sammy further said a clean sweep would be a fitting way to end their 2025-27 WTC campaign, particularly against a Bangladesh side coached by Phil Simmons, his predecessor in the West Indies head coach job.
“It’s going to be a big achievement. As you know, Bangladesh before this (series) was fourth in the Test championship. They have played some really good cricket, and (are) well coached by Phil (Simmons). The last time we beat them here 2-0 (in 2021), I think Phil was the (West Indies) coach. So to come here and do that would be a massive end for us in the Test championship.”
Sammy also looked back on a difficult start to his tenure as Test coach. “We all know when I took over, we looked at the first three or four series - going to (play) Australia at home with a new team, then India in India, (and) then New Zealand away in New Zealand. That was a pretty tough baptism for my Test coaching career.
“But these are things we spoke about in the dressing room, and we were speaking about by the time we get to Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Bangladesh; with the stability that the team could have, these are where we would make inroads. We are right on course to finish with the goal we had in mind in this Test cycle.”
Much of that stability, Sammy said, has come from settling the batting order. “Obviously, in the first year (of my coaching), we were finding the right balance in terms of players and roles allotted to them. I think we have settled in quite nicely. Brandon and John at the top of the innings have probably been our best opening pair in a long time.
“(Kavem) Hodge started at No. 6, (before) moving into No. 4. Justin (Greaves) and Roston (Chase) moved from Nos. 5 to 7. A lot has happened in order to bring the team to a settled position.”
Openers Brandon King and John Campbell laid the platform for the 170-run chase in Mirpur with a stand of 112. That made them the first West Indies opening pair since Gordon Greenidge and Desmond Haynes to share more than one century stand in the fourth innings of a Test.
“The work, especially the batters put in, and the preparation, that we have put in over the years led us to coming to Bangladesh, where we know spin has been something that’s bothered us in the past.
“To put on a display, especially chasing a tricky total like that in the second innings, the way the guys played, we just want them to continue. Consistency in performance is the way that brings results for you in any format of the game,” added Sammy.
Sammy, however, expects no let-up from the hosts. “We wanted to finish 2-0. We have put ourselves in a position to do that. But knowing Bangladesh and knowing Phil the way he operates, he’s going to come out for blood, and we don’t expect it to be anything easy. But the preparation we have put in, we know we could counteract and come out victorious.”
West Indies will wait until the morning of the match to decide their playing eleven. In the first Test, they had planned to play veteran pacer Kemar Roach, but switched to left-arm spinner Joshua Bishop, who made his debut, after finding that grass was shaved off the pitch.
“I have had a look at the wicket yesterday, but I don’t think I would make a fair assessment until the day of the game. In Dhaka, the morning of the Test match, when we saw the pitch, the final preparation, that’s when we had to finalise our team. So we’ll use that same strategy.
“The guys who might play or might not play depending on the surface, we’ve informed them about that. But just looking at the history here, it seems to be a very good ground where batters get value for their runs. I could say there’s a lot more grass on the surface, but again, we will wait till tomorrow when they hand over the ground.”
--IANS
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