Darren Sammy
Pakistan and West Indies are going to play a series which includes 5 ODI’s and 2 Test Matches. The two teams play their first ODI match on the 23rd of April in Beausejour Cricket Grounds, St. Lucia.
West Indies captain, Darren Sammy said that like Pakistan, West Indies themselves are in a building phase. Thus he is himself quite excited to play in his first home series as captain at his own hometown. As he puts it, “The squad selected is a well balanced. The team is full of youngsters who are eager and ready to represent the West Indies team. Everyone is excited and looking forward to this match. It is a fresh start and should be an exciting start to this year of international cricket at home. This is an opportunity to showcase what we have and make a statement. We are all looking ahead to this Series against the Pakistanis.”
“It is an honor to captain the West Indies team. This is my first series at home and my first match happens to be in St Lucia, my homeland. We are rebuilding now and .The slogan for the home series is ‘Wi [we] all in’ so it’s all all-out effort from everyone involved. As a team we want to go out there and deliver the goods for the West Indian people”
He further mentioned that if the West Indies team plays to its full potential it has the ability to beat Pakistan and thus it is very important for them to start the series on a good note.
West Indies will be missing their elegant opener Chris Gayle in this series as the all-rounder has chosen to play in the IPL instead of playing the series, for which he has also obtained a NOC from the WICB. Gayle who had been playing for the Kolkata Knight Riders for the past three seasons would now be playing for the Royal Challengers Bangalore.
Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi did not say much at the inauguration of the series, but Pakistan Coach Waqar Younus said that their team has a lot of new faces and it would be a good opportunity for them to prove themselves at the highest level. As mentioned earlier that Pakistan are in a re-building phase , which is the reason why they have opted to keep out players like Kamran Akmal and Abdul Razzaq who did not play well in the World Cup.
Tags: Chris Gayle, Cricket, Darren Sammy, PAK, Pakistan, Shahid Afridi, West Indies, WI, WICB
