West Indies Wary Ahead of Sylhet Test, Sammy Refuses to Take Simmons's Bangladesh Lightly
West Indies lead the series 1-0 after beating hosts Bangladesh by a big margin of eight wickets in the first Test in Mirpur. But the visitors are wary ahead of the second and final Test; head coach Daren Sammy believes the match in Sylhet will not be easy for the Caribbean side.
Bangladesh's bowlers failed to press home their advantage even on Mirpur's familiar spin-friendly wicket. Yet Bangladesh captain Najmul Hossain Shanto did not directly blame the bowlers after the defeat. In his view, the visiting West Indies team played better cricket in every department to earn the win.
The second and final Test of the series begins on 5 November at the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium. Unlike the spin wicket of the first match, the game in Sylhet will be played on a sporting wicket.
Sammy sounded a note of caution about Bangladesh head coach Phil Simmons's strategy. He said Simmons would make an all-out effort with his charges to draw level in the series. Sammy said he knew one thing very well about Simmons — Simmons would not let their task be easy in any way.
According to Sammy, Simmons himself will also want to win the match, because Bangladesh have their own specific targets in the ICC World Test Championship. So despite leading, the Caribbean coach expects a tough fight in Sylhet.
Meanwhile, the Caribbean coach credited his whole team of players for their fighting mentality in the Mirpur Test. He said the win was possible because the entire team fought through every session and stayed in the game.
Sammy also recalled the contribution of a special preparation camp in India before the series. He sincerely thanked Cricket West Indies for arranging the special training in Chennai to help the team adapt to subcontinental conditions.
