West Indies captain Darren Sammy not impressed by India middle order star batsman Suresh Raina's 'sledge' ahead of Sunday's World T20 clash
Suresh Raina (right) stretches during a practice session at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Dhaka on Saturday. Pic/AFP
Mirpur: Ironies are never lost on cricketers. On Saturday, there was another when India batsman Suresh Raina reckoned that the West Indies, who his team face at the ICC World T20 today, don't rotate the strike. Why is this an irony? It's because India are often accused of the same cricketing 'sin'.
Suresh Raina (right) stretches during a practice session at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Dhaka on Saturday. Pic/AFP
"West Indies will be a totally different team as they have a lot of players who can hit sixes but they don't have an idea about how to rotate the strike against spinners by taking singles and twos," is what Raina told journalists on Saturday.
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Sammy responded by saying, "We don't care much about what Raina thinks. If he thinks we are only six hitters, then stop us from hitting sixes."
Hopefully, Raina's impression of his opponents don't backfire here today. After the men from the Caribbean are the defending champions in this tournament which India have not enjoyed great success after their inaugural title triumph in South Africa 2007.
Gayle's in the mood
Sammy displayed his sense of humour when asked what mood his main batter Chris Gayle is in before the important clash. "I am not Jesus Christ. I don't know what's going on in his mind," he said with a chuckle. He was quick to get back to seriousness.
Darren Sammy hits a six during the second T20I vs England in Bridgetown recently. Pic/Getty Images
"I know he (Gayle) is really pumped up to play here. Whenever he is playing for the West Indies, he is very pumped up. And tomorrow's game everyone will be pumped up," said Sammy.
Raina, who scored an unbeaten 35 in India's seven-wicket win over Pakistan on Friday, emphasised that India would bank on their three-man spin attack which did a wondrous job against Pakistan.
"We have Mishra (Amit), who has done well in the last match. R Ashwin has also bowled well and Jadeja (Ravindra) is doing well too, but in T20 cricket, it depends on who is better on a particular day. Spinners will be vital in this match after the way they bowled against Pakistan," said Raina.
Captains Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Sammy will also have to factor in the rain factor today. According to locals, Bangladesh receives some rains in the evenings during this time of the year. On Saturday, New Zealand won by the D/L method after rain interrupted their clash against England at Chittagong.
66
The number of sixes Chris Gayle has hit in 37 T20Is
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