West Indies head coach feels that their cricketing system is the one to be blamed for their decline. This comes after India had bulldozed past them in the first Test and had won by an innings and 140 runs. Notably, the West Indies haven't won a Test series in India for the last 42 years. Their last series triumph on Indian soil came back in 1983 after they had lost the ODI World Cup final to the Kapil Dev-led side. Sammy pointed that out and highlighted how ffar they have fallen due to their cancerous system.
“I mean last time we won a Test series in 1983, my mother had me. I know now I’m under the microscope. I’m in the middle, and we’re open to criticism, to be criticized by everybody. But, the root of the problem didn’t start two years ago. It’s something that started way back. It’s like a cancer that’s already in the system. If you don’t get cancer, you know what happens. And, again, it’s breast cancer month. So, it’s a good way to put it. That our problems don’t lie on the surface. It’s rooted deep into our system," Sammy said in the pre-match press-conference.
Explaining West Indies' decline, Sammy further pointed out how the other top teams in the cricketing world have better facilities, manpower and technology than them. He also highlighted how the team has been struggling a lot with the finances as well and are in dire need of more sponsors.
“We could only work with what we have and who’s willing. The inability to match some of the franchises across the world has been an issue. But what I always tell these guys, if we complain about not having the best facilities, not having enough manpower like the other teams, not having the best technology, all these things which the other teams are superior to us, it’s no secret,” Sammy stated.
“The difference in the different teams, the top 3-4 teams in the world versus the bottom four. We’ve been struggling for finance for a long time. That’s one of the reasons why Brian (Lara), Shiv (Chanderpaul) they’re going to have this event this afternoon. Trying to see if we can get sponsors to help in some of the areas that we need improvement,” he added.
West Indies' horrific start to new WTC cycle
West Indies have had an incredibly poor start to the new World Test Championship (WTC) cycle. They had been defeated by 0-3 in their previous red-ball assignment against Australia and then lost the opening match of the series against India by a huge margin.
Meanwhile, the second and final Test of the series between India and West Indies is set to commence from October 10 at the Arun Jaitley stadium in Delhi. The Men in Blue will be hoping to record a clean sweep over their opponents and improve their position on the WTC standing by coming out victorious in the match.