We would have loved to win here: Sammy

West Indies may have lost the series 0-2, but the semblance of a fight they put up on the final day of the third Test that ended here on Saturday was praiseworthy.

We would have loved to win here: Sammy

West Indies may have lost the series 0-2, but the semblance of a fight they put up on the final day of the third Test that ended here on Saturday was praiseworthy. Captain Darren Sammy was eyeing a win to climb the Test rankings. "We would have loved a win here. Playing a higher rung team, we would have got some points.

WI skipper Darren Sammy celebrates the dismissal of India skipper
MS Dhoni at the Wankhede Stadium on Saturday. Pic/Suresh KK

Our goal is to make it to the top five in the rankings. I'm obviously happy with the result, but a win would have been the icing on the cake," he said at the post-match media briefing. Sammy felt atrocious batting in the first session on Saturday cost the visitors dearly. "For a win like that, we had to bat well in both innings. We didn't bat well in the second innings. Some of the shots we played were uncalled for.

You have to be prepared to bat for long," said Sammy, admitting his team has improved in leaps and bounds. "We have improved a lot. This was a good advertisement for five-day cricket and we kept believing that we could get a draw or a win," he said.

Till the start of Day Four there wasn't any indication of such a cliffhanger and the captain admitted it in as many words. "I didn't foresee this. We were hoping to get about 300-plus when we came to the ground this morning.

But after we lost seven-eight wickets, we had to go back to the dressing room and plan out the game. In the last few overs, all sorts of thoughts came to my mind. At one time, the thought of a tied Test also came up. I was speaking to Kirk (Edwards) at covers and he said 'we can draw, we won't lose'."

Sammy credited coach Ottis Gibson for the improvement. "For me, on a personal note, Gibson has been great for the side. We dominated the two Tests against Sri Lanka, did well against Pakistan and competed well against India. The players now have the belief that they can do well," he said.