KHULNA, Bangladesh, CMC – Boosted by a convincing Test series win, captain Darren Sammy now ambitiously wants to whitewash Bangladesh in the five-match One-Day International starting today.
This, he says, will significantly enhance the Caribbean side’s standing in the ODI rankings and put them in touching distance of sixth ranked Pakistan.
“First of all, we want to win the series. If we accomplish the goal we are trying to achieve, 5-0 gives us five ranking points. 4-1 gives us one and 3-2 might lose us ranking points,” Sammy said yesterday.
“I will let the guys know that to get maximum ranking points, we have got to win all five matches – but first we will look to win the series, which I think is possible if we play to our potential.
“We will take one thing at a time now, this is just the first game of a five-match series and we need to make sure we do the right things and give ourselves a good start to the series.”
West Indies swept Bangladesh in the two-Test series, with commanding performances in Dhaka and Khulna. However, they were carried five days in each instance, as the Tigers showed plenty fight before eventually collapsing.
Sammy said his side would therefore not be taking anything for granted, as the hosts had a talented unit which they expected to put up a strong challenge.
“We saw in the Tests that whenever it appeared they may have been down, they kept coming back at us, especially in the second Test,” he said.
“They had that great partnership the number eight (Mahmudullah) and number ten (Abul Hasan) put on in the first innings.
“We are not taking them for granted. We have always held the belief that we could come here and win, once we play to our full potential, we could be a very destructive force.”
The newly approved International Cricket Council rules governing fielding restrictions come into play during the upcoming series, and Sammy said bowlers would be the ones to pay the penalty.
Under the new rules, there will be two Power Plays instead of three and the first Power Play will be restricted to the first 10 overs with only two fielders allowed outside the field restriction circle.
The second five-over batting Power Play will have to be completed by the 40th over and only three fielders will be allowed outside the fielding restriction area.
In the non-Power Play overs, no more than four fielders will be permitted outside the 30-yard circle.
“It’s becoming more of a batsman’s game. Teams were scoring 300 runs plus with five fielders outside the circle. Now, it’s only four,” Sammy pointed out.
“I personally feel sorry for the spinners. They will have to come up with new ways to get wickets and to be economical.”
He added: “But those are the rules and we just have to move on and try our best our best to execute our plans properly.
“We will have one more fielder in the inside the circle, which could mean more pressure on the batsmen and no easy singles. It’s a challenge, but we are hopeful we can overcome it and be successful with what we do.”
The first ODI bowls off at the Sheikh Abu Naser Stadium at 9 am (11 pm, Eastern Caribbean time)
