Darren Sammy sacked ‘in 30-second phone call’

Darren Sammy, who led West Indies team to World To glory, posted an emotional video on his social media handle to share that his captaincy had been taken away from the selectors.

In his post, he said that the selectors had “reviewed” his captaincy and later informed that Sammy won’t be part of the West Indies team anymore.

“I got a call yesterday morning, it was probably 30 seconds, from the chairman of selectors telling me that they’ve reviewed the captaincy of T20 and I won’t be captain anymore of the T20 team, [and] my performances have not merited selection in the squad,” Sammy said in the video.

“That’s okay, I’ve always believed West Indies cricket is not about Darren Sammy. They are looking to the future and I wanna wish the new captain – I don’t know if it’s out yet so I won’t call any names – all the best as he looks to lead West Indies cricket and take it forward.

“Obviously, throughout my captaincy, winning the two T20 World Cups has been the highlight. And these memories I will cherish for a long time. This is not me retiring from one-day or T20, it’s just me thanking the fans and my players and the coaches I’ve worked with and WICB for…yeah, letting me lead the side for the last six years. But for now the captaincy has come to an end and thank you people.

“I just know I played with my heart and soul whenever I stepped out on the cricket field.”

In the recently concluded CPL tournament on the Caribbean soil, his team St Lucia Zouks lost to Trinbago Knight Riders in the finals. He also stated that he wanted his players to know that he was proud of their performance and should always hold their head high.

“Six years ago I was asked to captain West Indies, a task which I fought [and] would be the biggest challenge in my career, in my life,” Sammy said. “A task which I know would be so difficult but guess what…I took it head on. I embraced the challenge, I embraced the difficulty. I turn up at the office which is my playground, the cricket field, every day and put in the work.

The exclusion of Sammy from the team comes just few days before India takes on West Indies in a two match T20 series in Florida at the end of August. (Indian Express)