Sammy wants his team to win every game in the series

West Indies captain Darren Sammy has called on his team to show some progress in their performance throughout the Test series against Bangladesh.

Fresh off winning the International Cricket Council (ICC) World Twenty20, West Indies coach Ottis Gibson noted that the next aim for the team would be to become a top five ranked Test nation.

So far this year, the West Indies have lost to Australia at home and in England as well, but in the past couple of months, they have shown a  lot more promise after thrashing New Zealand and winning the World Twenty20.

Sammy noted that the team would need to push themselves ahead of the first Test against Bangladesh at Mirpur.

“It is more of a belief factor. We have played some good series over the years where we were competing against high-ranked teams, now we believe we can be even more competitive and get results over higher-ranked teams, we have a team goal which we want to achieve but this is going to be a step-by-step process. It’s important to come here and win matches and it’s a challenge we put on ourselves. Just like we forced ourselves to try and win the T20 World Cup, we achieved that and we are now looking forward to the next series which is against Bangladesh. We believe we can achieve our goals,” Sammy said.

In the last couple of Test series the West Indies have played, they have looked a lot more energetic and Sammy’s leadership has caught the attention of a lot of people, but the West Indies captain believes nothing has really changed over the past year.

“My role as a captain has not changed. Every player is aware of what their roles are in the team. Last year I have excelled in the role the team expects me to play, and I don’t see any difference this year. We just got to bring all our players together and go down and perform on the cricket field. That’s where the performance counts,” Sammy added.

However, Sammy admitted that the team had improved significantly compared to the same period last year and was also glad to have flamboyant opening batsman Chris Gayle back in the side.

“We have definitely improved as a team. A number of players have come on board and we are a little bit more consistent. We beat New Zealand in both Tests and performances came from different players. We come here with one mission: to win all three series in Bangladesh,” Sammy said.