India vs West Indies: Darren Sammy and M S Dhoni express satisfaction

Rain and bad light ensured that the second test at Barbados ended in a stalemate

The second test between India and West Indies at Barbados ended so near yet so far for Team India, but that did not prevent M S Dhoni from expressing his satisfaction over his team’s performance. The captain believed that weather and bad light were things nobody has control over and the so decided against mulling over it for long periods.

On setting a tantalizing target of 280 which was nowhere close to what he set in his previous declarations, Dhoni said,

“It is a difficult target to achieve, if you are batting for around 80 overs to get around 280 runs. The outfield was also very slow, so we thought that was a good enough target and that’s why we declared.

“You will not know how much rain you going to get during the course of the game, so we thought 80 overs are enough to bowl the opposition out. We started with an attacking field straightway, and that’s why they got a few boundaries initially. That’s why we thought of 280 and didn’t declare at 240, so that we can have close-in fielders for those extra five-six overs,”

From the West Indies point of view, the match was almost lost but the skipper Darren Sammy was only willing to examine the team’s performance under positive light.

“We believed we had a chance of getting the target,” Sammy said.

“The coach outlined the stages, and by tea and with15 overs left, we were right on target. But we lost more wickets than we anticipated, and we don’t have control over the weather. I think Ravi Rampaul has shown he is capable of batting for long periods. Bishoo as well. We never know what could have happened. I am happy that we ended with a draw and we could go to Dominica and try to level the series.”

Sammy was also wary about the team’s sporadic middle order performance.

“We could do much better, but at least we saw guys taking a little bit of responsibility and scoring some runs for us,” Sammy added.

The third and the final test is scheduled to commence on July 6 at Roseau.