India “The Team To Beat” At T20 World Cup: Former West Indies captain Darren Sammy

Darren Sammy said that for any team to win the T20 World Cup, it will need to “go through India”.

Former West Indies captain Darren Sammy said that India will be “the team to beat” at the upcoming T20 World Cup, which will be held at the United Arab Emirates. Sammy said that at any ICC tournament, you need to “go through India” to have a shot at the trophy. India have been grouped with arch-rivals Pakistan, New Zealand and Afghanistan, as well as two other teams who will qualify from Round 1 in the Super12 stage of the T20 World Cup.

“India is the team to beat. We have heard Dinesh Karthik talk about it – the experience, their T20 players come into the international cricket with, whether it is from India’s domestic T20 cricket or the IPL, you see all the countries go there and get the experience,” Sammy said on the Star Sports show Game Plan.

“Apart from the World Cup, I think this is, if not, the most pressure situation (tournament), where the players will be under and India has that formula,” said the man who has captained the West Indies to two T20 World Cup titles.

“In 2016, when we left our homes, me, the coach and all the guys said – in order to win this tournament, you will have to go through India. Whatever stage it is, you will have to go through India, whether it is the final, the semi-final,” he said.

“You will have to go through India in any tournament. As you have seen in the last few ICC tournaments, whether it is the Test Championship or ODI, you will have to go through India in order to win.”

The T20 World Cup will get underway on October 17, with the Super12 stage starting on October 23. India’s campaign will kick off against Pakistan on October 24.

India will then take on New Zealand on October 31 followed by Afghanistan on November 3.

India will then play their final two Super12 matches on November 5 and 7.