Ever since West Indies named their Test squad to India, there have been plenty of questions raised about the make-up of the outfit which includes a strong pace attack. With the two Tests scheduled to take place in Ahmedabad and Delhi, where spinners will be calling the shots, West Indies may end up ruing their decision to bring a four-man pace attack. However, their head coach Darren Sammy believes their pacers have the quality to take the conditions out of picture and deliver the 20 wickets that will give them a good shot of winning a Test.
After being blanked by Australia at home in the first series in the new World Test Championship cycle, West Indies next assignment is the daunting tour of India, where they are without a Test match win since 1994. They are also without a Test series win in Indian soil for 42 years as Roston Chase & Co face an enormous challenge in the two-match Test series. Having lost three of their last four Tests on Indian shores with a innings margin and one by 10 wickets, the expectations are low on West Indies.
As they head to India, much of their hope relies on the pace pack, which includes Alzarri Joseph, Shamar Joseph, Anderson Phillip and Jayden Seales to go with the all-rounder Justin Greaves. And Sammy said why this attack could do well in Indian conditions as well. “We have found ourselves in a position where our seam attack could operate in any conditions,” Sammy said in a press conference.
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West Indies biggest concern in Indian conditions off-late has been their inability to test the hosts’ batsmen. They have been at the receiving end of three innings defeat is largely thanks to coming here with an attack that hasn’t been able to penetrate. Sammy, though, went on to explain why he believed in the four pacers. “That six-to-eight-metre length works across the world. But in our fast-bowling department, we’ve got four different guys who have their own variety. You have Shamar Joseph, who’s very skiddy, Jayden, who has a strong front leg and can swing the ball both ways, then you have Alzarri Joseph with his height and the bounce he could extract. So, again, we take confidence in that, especially the way they’ve been bowling over the last year. The ability to take 20 wickets, because that’s what you will need in India. If you can’t take 20 wickets in India, you are on the back foot and we have a bowling line-up of that, especially from the seam department, that could take 20 wickets. I have full confidence in that and it makes me smile knowing that we go out bowling and we take 20 wickets. And that’s the first objective in the Test match” Sammy said.
Ahead of the tour West Indies also took the big decision of dropping their opener Kraigg Brathwaite, while recalling Tagenarine Chanderpaul and Alick Athanaze. “Before Tage got injured in the 4-Day Championship, he was averaging, I think, 47 [42 in the 2024-25 season, batting well and just looking at our depth chart, who we have with the opening spot over the last few series, not really giving us the numbers and the results that we want,” Sammy said. “When we look at the role needed for one of these openers, Tage brings that sort of clarity of thought that we’re looking at in terms of the skillset and what that role requires. And his experience, the ability to play spin, he was probably right up there as one of the better contenders for that role. So [he’s a] young man, you speak about transitioning, he made a very strong case for the opening spot,” Sammy added.
