T20 is India’s game but winning the cup in Australia won’t be easy, says Darren Sammy

Darren Sammy (Image: Twitter/@darensammy88)

In 2012, under Darren Sammy’s leadership, the West Indies won the World T20, their first world title since the 1979 World Cup. The former West Indian captain led the islanders to another title, at the 2016 World T20 in India, thus becoming the only captain so far to have won the World T20 twice.

Moneycontrol spoke exclusively to Sammy on India’s chances in the upcoming World Cup in Australia and many more topics regarding the cricket world. Edited excerpts:

No one else has won the T20 World Cup twice. For many captains, winning one is enough. How do you look back at those achievements?

The credit must go to my team. I think the team I had in 2012 and 2016 had some good and quality T20 players who were full of experience and they performed admirably. So my job as a captain was easy as everybody knew their role and they went out to do it with perfection. So all credit to my players for that.

Do you think that since the 2012 and 2016 triumphs, the T20 international game has changed a lot?

I think a few teams have copied the way we played and how we modelled it. Like the way we have apps, you have to keep updating the app (laughs). We as a team have stuck to the same model but then guys got older and don’t have the sting. However, now it is a young team under (Nicholas) Pooran and all the other players, we have a method to play and it’s not only about big hitting, now it’s about rotating the strike as well. England, India and Pakistan have done it very well.

You saw India’s inaugural triumph in the 2007 World Cup. India has played surprisingly very conservative cricket since then and has also faced criticism many times but suddenly there is a change in the overall approach and they have embraced an attacking philosophy. How do you look at this phenomenon?

As I said earlier, if you have a phone or app you have to keep updating it. Maybe when they won, that method was okay, but when you have teams that are capable of hitting boundaries, the chances of them scoring will always be higher. And if they lose wickets in the middle, they have chances to consolidate in the middle overs… And that’s what (Indian skipper) Rohit Sharma does… It will be interesting to see how this World Cup goes.

Since you brought up Sharma, I want to ask about his captaincy. Purely from a leadership point of view, what is your opinion, whatever your little interaction has had with him?

I have spoken about it many times… I love the way he captains… That’s why Mumbai Indians are the most successful franchise (in the Indian Premier League). He is a team-first captain and when you have a captain who can motivate his men, it does the job for the team.

How different is this cricketing leadership from general life, do you differentiate between these?

Cricket has taught me a lot about life… Leadership has also taught me about life. The basic principle of cricket is it prepares you for life.

You had to lead a team from the Caribbean where people come from different regions and islands. In India, too, even if it’s one country, players are from different states and speak different languages. Is the challenge even higher for the captain who is leading such a team?

I think being a captain is in itself a pressure… Everything comes down to man management. Everybody comes into the squad full of talent and willing to do well for the country and it’s your job to put that together and keep them motivated and create an environment that breeds success.

Do you think the T20 format is suited more for specialists or all-rounders?

I think you have different roles in different teams… You need specialist bowlers, a T20 team needs at least three specialist bowlers that could bowl in the death overs and three who could bowl in the power play, But when you have two, it’s lot of pressure on two individuals to set the game up for you. When you have all-rounders coming in who can bowl and bat, it is always good. A few players are equally capable with bat and ball that’s a plus but I think whether they are good with bat and ball or not, you got to have specialist bowlers because batter wins you games but bowlers win you tournaments.

Finally, do you think India can win the T20 World Cup?

Look, in any format, especially T20, you must call it India’s game. They have the method of IPL franchise but the matches will happen in Australia where we are going to get bounce and the square boundaries are bigger and it will be very challenging, but you could never count out India.