Former West Indies captain Darren Sammy expressed his disappointment at Pakistan’s two losses in games they should have won.
Sammy — who also coaches Pakistan Super League’s (PSL) Peshawar Zalmi franchise — said that not being able to score runs doesn’t take Babar Azam’s class away from him.
Sammy is now in Australia because he is a member of the ICC T20 World Cup commentary team. He also expressed his regret about the West Indies’ failure to advance to the World Cup’s Super 12 stage. But, he was still positive.
“The brand of cricket we played, did not deserve to be in this World Cup but it’s sad not seeing the West Indies team in a T20 World Cup. I’m a positive guy, we could only go up from here and I’m looking forward to 2024 when the West Indies team could be better,” he said.
Due to his involvement in the PSL, the former West Indian is also well-known in Pakistan. Sammy shares the same affection for Pakistanis. Sammy, who identified as a supporter of Pakistan, expressed disappointment that his country had lost its first two games.
“You should win cricket matches when you are in a dominant position, but Pakistan failed to do so. It was discouraging to see as a Pakistani supporter, but you can’t write Pakistan off, he added, because they had the opposition in both instances under control and still allowed them to come back.
The former West India captain stated, “And they have to continue they have to be brave Pakistan have to be brave T20 is a game that asks you to be brave.”
The West Indies great cricketer noted that Shaheen didn’t look fully healthy and a different bowler from what he was in 2021 when asked how he views the two games that Pakistan lost and what his evaluation would be.
Additionally, he said that Pakistan was timid when chasing in the game against Zimbabwe. Sammy said he doesn’t like to dispute which player is better or compare players, but he also said that both Babar and Indian batter Virat Kohli is excellent.
He asserted that Babar’s inability to score shouldn’t diminish his greatness or sense of class.
“Kohli spent 18 months without scoring 100 when Babar was just quietly scoring runs for fun, so that’s cricket, form is temporary, class is permanent, and Kohli showed his class in this World Cup. Obviously, Babar couldn’t score but that doesn’t take away the class of Babar and how great he is as a batsman,” he said.
“What makes you even greater is when the pressure is on to stand up. And I think that’s what Kohli has been able to do, and Babar still is coming,” he said.
