Sammy banks on West Indies' never-say-die attitude in semis

Staying calm under pressure is the secret behind Darren Sammy’s ability to pull off sixes at will. The West Indies’ T20 skipper has slammed five sixes in his last two innings against Australia and Pakistan and while the numbers may not be extraordinary, he has essayed them when least expected. He also hit seven fours during those match-winning knocks.

“I just stay calm,” was his reply when asked about his uncanny capacity to send the ball soaring over the fence. “Most of my big partnerships have come with one of our most experienced T20 players in Dwayne (Bravo), the ODI captain. Two captains of West Indies and you know we just stay calm and we know once we bat till the end and bat deep, we know anything is possible. We have shown that over the last few months and we know we could get up to 40 runs in the last three overs,” he reasoned.

Sammy felt that the win over Sri Lanka in the 2012 final in Colombo will not have any bearing on their Thursday’s semifinal here. “For us, it’s another game of cricket,” he began.

“Whenever we play tournaments against different opposition on the given day, we focus solely on that opposition. Cricket is not about what happens before; it’s what happens on a cricket field on that present day. We defeated them (in 2012 final) and in the practice game here but they have played some good cricket and we have a lot of respect for them.  At the same time, we know what we have to do to win. We have been peaking at the right time doing some good things with our team spirit and our never-say-die attitude. Hopefully, that will be contagious,” he remarked.

No team has won the World T20 twice and Sammy felt defending the title successfully was an extra motivation for West Indies. “When we left the Caribbean, we had that as the motivation factor for us. In the last World Cup, the mantra was one team, one goal and the mission was to win the World Cup.

This year the mantra is the same: One team, one goal, but the mission is to retain the title. It’s something that no team has done before and we are very confident that we can do it. Once we play the brand of cricket that we have played in the last three games, there is every possibility that we can do it.”