West Indies head coach Daren Sammy stated that news of player pay cuts hurt team morale ahead of their crucial ODI series against India.
West Indies head coach Daren Sammy revealed that the West Indies Cricket Board's decision to institute player pay cuts to reduce costs negatively impacted team morale ahead of their series against India.
Speaking in New Chandigarh on the eve of the final ODI against India, the two-time T20 World Cup-winning captain stated that financial cuts are unwelcome ahead of a major series. "I mean, look, as a professional, that’s not what you want to hear before a series," Sammy said. "Before the pay cuts, I said there is no better time to play India. You win against the best team, you get some leverage, not only for West Indies as a whole, but for you personally. Performing against India pays you back down the road. We try our best to put that there. I commend the guys for the way they put their heads down. Yes, the results have not gone [our way]. But we keep improving in certain areas."
Addressing the positives from the series, Sammy praised the intent shown by his batters, even as the team's bowling unit struggled. "Intent is something that we’ve spoken about in the dressing room. We have had four batters scoring 100s in two games. It is a positive for us. The rotation of strike, the intent, especially against spin — these are the key performance indicators that we take," Sammy highlighted.
However, Sammy stressed that the bowling unit needs to step up when conditions do not favor them. "But we still need to find ways, when the pitch is not really offering any assistance to the bowlers, to be disciplined in our lines and lengths and the plans that we put in," he added.
Reporting sourced from The Hindu Cricket. Photo courtesy The Hindu Cricket.