Sammy will always cherish this moment for the rest of his life

West Indies captain Darren Sammy has revealed that winning the International Cricket Council (ICC) World Twenty20 was the greatest moment of his international career.

Sammy stated that he would treasure the moment for the rest of his life because it had been the first major ICC trophy that the West Indies had won since the 1979 World Cup.

“We will definitely cherish this moment. I will for sure, we’re going to relive it every day of our lives. This is the best moment for me in any cricket. This here (the trophy) is for the Caribbean people. West Indies fans all over the world have been craving success. I know they’re partying from Jamaica down to Guyana. And we know how to party. I think they’ll need a lot of bartenders,” Sammy said.

When asked whether his performance with the bat and ball in the final had been a direct message to his critics, who questioned if he should have been in the squad all along, Sammy said: “The commentators get paid to speak. The media get paid to write stories. I get paid to play cricket, critics will always be there. Someone might find something wrong I did today even though we won. That does not worry me. The most important thing is that the team did well. And I always say I live my life one way. Christ came to this earth, did nothing wrong and yet was crucified. I’m nowhere close to that man.”

Sammy noted that he did not play for his own personal glory, he played as a representative of an entire nation.

“Anybody could have an opinion about me. I like it. My shoulders are broad enough. It’s been like that from the time I started cricket. Once I wear this [West Indies] crest (pointing to his shirt), I wear it on my heart. That’s what matters. If I turn up and don’t have a good day, I suck, I’ll come the next day and try and put in a better performance. I don’t play for glory. I play for the Caribbean people,” Sammy said.

During the finals when the West Indies had just posted 32 runs in the first 10 overs, Sammy told his squad that they had to keep believing and that God would help them succeed.

“We have a strong belief in God. He works in mysterious ways. He performs wonders, like I kept saying in every press conference, there’s a belief we had in the team. Yes, we expected them (Sri Lanka) to give us a good fight and they did. Throughout the last year or so, we’ve been showing that never-say-die attitude, but we’ve not been winning games. In this tournament, we’ve won games. Every man believed that whoever was out there could do the job. Today, it was Marlon Samuels and (Dwayne) Bravo steadying the ship. In the end, every run counts. The bowling discipline was just brilliant, and the fielding. I said we needed our A-plus game, this here is proof of it,” Sammy added.

However, after all-rounder Marlon Samuels 78 runs had lifted the West Indies to a score of 137 off their 20 overs, Sammy continued telling his squad that they still had a chance to win.

“The coach was saying that if we get the score we got in Pallekele (129 for 5 against Sri Lanka) on this wicket, we’ll win the match, the momentum we had from our batting carried through to our bowling. It was Dwayne Bravo’s birthday, so in the huddle, I gave him the chance to say the last words before we went on the field. He said, ‘let’s go out there and give it our all. If we do that and play how we can play, these runs are going to be a fighting total’. Ravi (Rampaul) started it off with his first ball, and we never looked back from there,” Sammy said.

“We have some of the most experienced Twenty20 players. Once we play the way we can, we’ll always be a force to reckon with. We didn’t brag about it but we believed we could go out there and take it one game at a time. I said hurdle by hurdle, and today was the final one. The coach said we’re climbing to the top of a mountain, and that’s where the prize is. We’ve got to go and take it. Today, we did that. We had different persons coming up with performances in different matches. The team has gelled well in this tournament. Signs of progress have been there, but this is the icing on the cake,” Sammy added.

Even though the West Indies squad have had a few problems in the past, especially in regards to disputes between senior players and the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB), Sammy stated that he wanted to put all that behind him and start a new chapter with the squad.

“This is the moment here, issues done and buried. Twenty20 World Cup, 2012, Sri Lanka – West Indies champion,” Sammy said.