India exposed us, admits Sammy

West Indies captain Darren Sammy said the two crushing defeats against India had shown them how far behind their team is as compared to the top Test nations of the world.

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 “It’s very disappointing. We never turned up in the series. We left the Caribbean at the back of six Test victories, against Bangladesh, New Zealand and Zimbabwe. Coming here really taught us a lesson, exposed us… taught us how far we are behind the top four teams in the world. We’ve just not turned up,” Sammy said in Mumbai on Saturday.

After losing both the Test matches within three days, the all-rounder said his players had cracked under pressure and they deserve all the criticism coming their way.

“We won six Test matches against teams we were ranked higher than. Now we play against teams that are ranked higher than us, it was an opportunity to showcase what we have.”

“What we have displayed over the last two Test matches, or over six days, we’re much better than that. If you look at the way we played, every time we’ve been under pressure, we’ve not responded well. I guess it’s is a mental thing. Myself, as captain, has not led from the front at all in this series. We deserve all the criticism and comments that have been thrown at us,” he added.

Sammy pointed out how the team was at the receiving end in both the matches with Rohit Sharma hitting back to back hundreds, Mohammed Shami and Pragyan Ojha claiming nine and ten wickets respectively in the Kolkata and Mumbai Test.

“I was speaking to a good friend of mine and he summed it up very well... he said we knew you were coming here to a celebration, and you got a lot of gifts. That’s what we did. Rohit making his debut Test series, gifts -- two hundreds. Mohammed Shami making his debut, gifts -- lots of wickets,” he said.

Sammy also paid rich tributes to Tendulkar saying his presence will be missed in cricket.

“Oh well, we can’t miss just one thing. Tendulkar is the all-round person, ultimate sportsman. What he’s done for the sport for the last 24 years… as opponents whenever you hear of Sachin your shoulders tend to drop. As a teammate, probably people would be very happy to be in the same team as him. Which ever team you support, wherever Sachin is playing you’ve to watch. The cricket world will surely miss the sport’s greatest ambassador,” he said.

Sammy said he is hoping the ODI team can salvage some pride under new captain Dwayne Bravo in the forthcoming three-match series.

“We have the One-day series coming up. New leadership. We look forward to salvage some pride on this India tour,” he said.