Press Trust of India
Kolkata, April 2: Adversity and the jibe ‘short of brains’ by former England player Mark Nicholas have brought the West Indies cricketers close together as never before, stated a visibly emotional West Indies skipper Darren Sammy here Saturday at the Eden Gardens.
“Even animals have brains,” Sammy stated referring to Nicholas as ‘that gentleman’. “By calling us as ‘short of brains’, he is calling us ‘objects’ and not living bodies. We are human beings, beautiful people with warmth. That gentleman was once a good friend, not anymore” he added.
Sammy also stated that the contract controversy before the side left the West Indian shores has only increased the determination of the side. “When we came here, we talked about the ‘six steps to success’. We have completed five and the remaining one we are determined to complete tomorrow. It’s our passion, our dream and we believe we can do it,” added Sammy who also led the team to triumph to the 2012 T20 triumph.
The West Indian skipper also pointed out that his side has been one of the most consistent team in this format of the tournament. “We were semifinalists in 2009, won the tournament in 2012 and a hailstorm knocked us out in Dhaka (2014). We have been very consistent. Yet no one gives us a chance,” lamented the skipper.
Meanwhile England skipper Eoin Morgan stated that they cannot just afford to concentrate on (Chris) Gayle. “They have proved that they are not a Gayle-dependent side. When you play against a good side, you just can’t concentrate on one or two players, you have to focus on the entire 11 of the opposition,” stated Morgan. “We will just do that.”
Morgan informed that the players are trying to ‘embrace’ the atmosphere of playing in the final. “That is what we have told our players to do. It is not a normal game, it is a final,” Morgan stated with a lot of emphasis on the word ‘final’. “The players are just embracing the atmosphere, enjoying the moment and I feel that it will help us to play our normal aggressive game,” he added.
