“Let the dance begin tomorrow… Hope to see you guys in Ahmedabad.”

Head coach Daren Sammy signed off with these words, as he left the news conference room at Eden Gardens on Friday, the eve of their T20 World Cup opener against Scotland.

Sammy was not referring to the next group match on the two-time champions’ hands, rather his sights are locked on the final, on March 8.

Given how the side has performed in the format of late, even the most optimistic in the Caribbean isles might not predict a summit clash in Ahmedabad so soon. But Sammy believes. Just as he did in the Class of 2016, which he led as captain.

The 2016 West Indies team, too, had not been given much of a chance, but they managed to prove all the doubters wrong to lift the T20 World Cup a second time, at Eden Gardens against England. This time around, Sammy again feels Shai Hope’s unit is capable of doing something spectacular.

“I know it feels like the same scenario 10 years ago where everything was against us, nobody gave us a chance. And I’m looking to the guys and the calibre of talent that we have in that dressing room. If we go out and, you know my favourite word, ‘execute’ with both ball and bat and also on the field, we’re in it to win the Cup,” Sammy said.

Carlos Brathwaite, known for his four successive sixes off Ben Stokes in that unforgettable 2016 final, is set to be at the Eden as a commentator for Saturday’s game. No wonder he will be pleased if the Windies get off to a robust start.

For Sammy, he remembers every bit of that last-over finish. He even remembers the news conference where a padded-up Marlon Samuels, hero of the final, addressed the scribes with his legs on the table. Back at the same venue where his smiles never faded, the Windies head coach
urged his players to play for the “maroon”.

“The maroon for me is still what makes me who I am today. You talk about the Caribbean and you know, West Indies cricketers are known better than their Prime Ministers. So, it brings a lot of history. And that is what I try to instil in the guys.

“If you understand the history, if you know where you came from and what you’ve done, you can understand that. And you now have an opportunity to shape the next generation. I told them in the huddle today, ‘Create your own piece of history’.”

Scotland have beaten the Windies once in the 2022 edition of the Cup. Acknowledging them as a “tricky opponent”, Sammy wants his team to focus solely on execution.