West Indies coach Daren Sammy hopes a strong show against India will help attract sponsors. After the T20I series ended in a draw on Friday, Sammy said, "I think we're in a position where we need somebody to put a shoulder around West Indies cricket — financially, that is."
BENGALURU: Following the hard-fought white-ball contests against India over the last 20 days, West Indies coach Daren Sammy hoped that the side had done enough to attract sponsors. For the record, the visitors, after losing the ODI leg 1-2, fought tooth and nail in the subsequent T20I leg before levelling the series 2-2. However, in the decider at Bengaluru on Friday, rain played spoils to leave both teams to share the trophy.
In the post-tournament press conference, Sammy wanted somebody 'to put a shoulder around West Indies cricket'. "My mom always said, 'you must have a care factor'. No matter what you do in life, you should never lose that care factor. I think we're in a position where we need somebody to put a shoulder around West Indies cricket — financially, that is."
Conversations around money within the context of West Indies cricket have been all too familiar for decades. In fact, when the side had toured India for a two-match Test series this time last year, some legends had come in the hopes of raising money. Sir Viv Richards, Brian Lara and Sir Richie Richardson, among others, had taken part in an informal round of golf with corporate leaders.
How have those conversations progressed over the last year?
"Series like this," Sammy said, "here in India against the best team in the world, puts us in a conversation closer to that," he added.
To drive home the point, the former all-rounder framed West Indies' current predicament with respect to how he saw Indian cricket at the moment. "India will win the World Cup every time they go somewhere in an ICC event. They expect to win. It is because of all the things they've put in place. When the West Indies goes somewhere, we've got to perform in spite of. Because and in spite…there are two different words.
"One is that things have been put in place. The other one, in spite, is because of the challenges. But we are still doing that. I think we've taken a big step. Hopefully, the conversations with stakeholders and the sponsors could be a little bit better after this series. Some investment comes where it could put us in a position to be better all-round," he said.
It's why even though the series may have lacked context from a long-term perspective — the next T20 World Cup is still two years away and will be played in Australia and New Zealand — for West Indies, a series like this gives them the perfect window to showcase their brand of cricket to the world.
In the words of Sammy, 'the swagger is back'. "Look, we all know what it takes to play for the West Indies… the challenges. To play a team that has been so good for so long, especially in that format (India are the world champions in the T20 format), is a wonderful thing. All the guys in the dressing room, they've gone out there and played with intent. I think what was good to see was the swagger is back, the confidence is back. It started during the warm-up, and you could see guys enjoying it, and there was a willingness to win. And that's where it starts. The belief that we belong where we are and have the performances that say we belong there."
In September 2026, Cricket West Indies (CWI) announced a financial restructuring. Under this, the board said their contracted players were set for a pay cut. When they announced it, they had said: "... a comprehensive counter-attack against all the challenges we face financially, developmentally and competitively."
This is, of course, one of the many 'challenges' involved when representing the West Indies. But Sammy is mindful of that. But he is hopeful. "For me, as a coach, it's trying to create that environment, that winning mindset. The belief in players, and sometimes you take two steps forward, but because of the nature of the sport, certain things might happen, and you might think you take three or four steps backwards. But to continue working and continue taking steps in the right direction. That's what I'm about. I know there's a lot of noise, but I have very small ears, so I don't really hear. That's how I go about doing it."
The next few months will reveal more. For the time being, though, this is a rare good news West Indies cricket story.