Kingston: West Indies skipper Darren Sammy thinks that his side has a good chance to bounce back in the second Test, against India, in Barbados, despite losing the first one by 63 runs, on Thursday.
But for that to happen, Samy admitted that his team has to bat better than they did in Kingston. The captain, in fact, said at the post-match media conference that the West Indies batsmen should learn to apply themselves from the way Rahul Dravid and Harbhajan Singh did for India.
The following are excerpts
On the preparations for the second Test, in Bridgetown
Well… We will have to be positive. This is a three-Test series. Surely, all is not lost. We’ll have to pick ourselves. By now, the batsmen know that they have been far from their best. The way the bowlers have bowled, getting India out within 250-odd in both innings, we stand a good chance of levelling the series, provided we bat well. For us, the batting hasn’t fired on most of the times. I still believe the guys are trying their best. It’s about being more mentally focussed when you are out there in the middle. For instance, the way Dravid and Harbhajan played… They took charge of the situation. We need more guys to take charge, do whatever it takes for the team.
Chance of bouncing back
We bowled India out twice… So, we know that we can take 20 wickets. The one area we need to click is batting. Batting fourth, we got the highest score in match. If we can tighten up our batting and if I don’t drop Dravid again, we can put ourselves in a position to win the next Test.
The atmosphere in the dressing room after Thursday’s loss
Just as the team believes in me, I also believe in them… We try to keep a positive atmosphere in the dressing room. The next game is a different day altogether. If we can prepare hard in the nets, we can do it. I am happy with my teammates. When the results don’t go our way, people will talk, but if we can get the batting sides of things right, we will do well.
If there would be any changes in the team for the second Test
Well, the selectors select the team… At the end of the day, these people have a job to do, they will analyse us and come up with the best possible solution.
Whether the team is missing anything…
Missing? We are missing runs on the board.
Whether they are missing Chris Gayle
Our batsmen haven’t been able to seize the moments… This has been happening for the last 10 years. May be the best thing for us is to bring back Gary Sobers, Viv Richards, Clyde Walcott… All of them! I think whoever is picked for the West Indies, the onus is on him to make a difference. About Gayle, you never know… When he comes back we will see.
If he was impressed with Devendra Bishoo’s bowling
Bishoo got Mahendra Singh Dhoni in both the innings (of the first Test)… Actually it’s three in three, for he had also claimed him in the World Cup. He has been a shining star for us since his debut. He keeps improving every day and has got the results. He troubled the batsmen and got the ball to turn and bounce.
