T20 World Cup 2026: WI Coach Sammy plays down Wankhede edge as confident Zimbabwe eye

Zimbabwe skipper Sikandar Raza; (right) Head coach Daren Sammy during WI’s practice session at Wankhede on Sunday. Pic/PTI

West Indies's two-time T20 World Cup-winning captain Daren Sammy is known for his ever-smiling and positive attitude. Adding to his joy will be the fact that the Shai Hope-led WI have won all four of their Group C matches, including two at Wankhede, against England and Nepal.

However, despite their Wankhede success and the fact that their Super Eights match on Monday is against Group B leaders Zimbabwe, who have played all their matches in Colombo, Sammy, 42, insisted that the Mumbai venue holds no advantage to the Windies.

"I don't see an advantage. What we did against Nepal and against England here bears no bearing on the game tomorrow [Monday]. It's a new opposition on a different day. We just have to assess again, decide what's required and hopefully deliver well. At a World Cup, you've got to respect every opposition, but believe in yourself. That's what I encourage my guys to do," Sammy said in reply to a question by mid-day at the match-eve press conference here.

Meanwhile, though the Sikandar Raza-led Zimbabwe will be playing in India for the first time in a decade, and left-arm spinner Wellington Masakadza is the only other member from that 2016 squad, the Zimbabwe skipper sounded confident.

"Not many of you would have picked Zimbabwe to be a semi-finalist, so maybe we haven't done enough yet. This motivates us. These are the challenges we look forward to. I don't know if we'll make it or not, but one thing I can assure you from a Zimbabwe captain and a team point of view, we'll give it our best shot," said Raza.

2016
The year Zimbabwe last played a T20I on Indian soil