In the early hours of 4th August, Darren Sammy had received a call from the chairmen of the selection committee conveying him that he would no longer serve as captain for the West Indies T20 team.
Darren Sammy has led his team 2 times to the victory road in the shortest format of the game and bringing the glory days back to the Caribbean. He always believed in his team no matter what circumstances turned out to be. West Indies were never the favourites to start in the 2016 edition of the T20 Championship, but Sammy always believed and the collective efforts and his brilliant captaincy had done it again for the Calypso’s. Sammy & co had a rough relationship with WICB since some time from now, they weren’t even backing them for T20 world cup too, but keeping all the disputes and misunderstandings aside, He and his team conquered the Silverware as they displayed their emotions by brutally dismantling the English line-up in the Finals of the T20 World Cup.
Sammy recollected that 6 years ago when he was handed the captaincy, He could feel the pressure and he also admitted that it was probably the biggest challenge in his life but he side lined everything else and concentrated on his game and also to find a the right mix of players to clinch some major tournaments which he rightly lived up to.
Since 2011, Sammy had captained the National T20 side 47 times wherein he had won 27 of those. The highlights of his career were to lead his team to victory in the 2012 and 2016 World T20 championships.
After their Last over victory against England in the night of Finals, Sammy had given an emotional speech stating his grieves and agonies upon the WICB despite their performances. He had also stated back then that his position and his responsibilities would be on jeopardy as he was expressing his thoughts upon his Regulatory Board which have turned into reality in the recent days.
Despite all the stick he’s faced, he humbly wished the upcoming captain and his national side with luck in their campaigns up ahead. He also thanked his former coach, Ottis Gibson and the current coach, Phil Simmons for believing in him always. He also thanked all his team mates who were present with him in all his ups & downs as a Captain and as a Player. Sammy’s ideology of staying positive and having a never die attitude had strong implications on the players as they now are able to play collectively and efficiently which has led them to lift the winner’s trophy twice within the span of 4 years.
– By Akshath Jeksani
