"Want to become a championship-winning team," says Daren Sammy ahead of 1st WI vs SA T20I as West Indies build for 2026 T20 WC

Daren Sammy has retained more than half of the players from the T20 World Cup 2024 squad.

Currently, the West Indies T20I team is a “series-winning” team, says their white-ball coach Daren Sammy, who wishes to turn them into a “championship-winning” side as the Men In Maroon kick off their preparations for the 2026 T20 World Cup, which will be held in India and Sri Lanka.

Starting Friday, West Indies will host South Africa in a three-match T20I series. All three games will be played at the Brian Lara Stadium in Trinidad.

Although there’s still a year and a half to go before the 2026 T20 World Cup, Sammy addressed the issues of his side in their recent T20 World Cup campaign and wants to get their preparations underway for the next T20 WC.

Right now, we are a series-winning team: Daren Sammy

West Indies failed to reach the semi-finals of the home tournament in June.

Sammy underlined that West Indies had beaten South Africa and England in the bilateral T20I series before the T20 World Cup, but in the Super Eight round, Rovman Powell’s side lost to both teams and thus couldn’t qualify for the semi-final.

Ahead of the 1st WI vs SA T20I, Sammy said, “I want to become a championship-winning team. Right now, we are a series-winning team. We beat one team over a three- or five-game period and we know what to do, but I want this team to become a championship-winning team – where you can find and play a different opposition in a tournament, and be able to come up with the goods every single game.”

Sammy, a two-time T20 World Cup-winning captain, was somewhat pleased with the performances of most players as he has retained 11 members of the 15-man squad in the T20 World Cup. He wants to build the “championship mentality” in the unit.

“It’s a combination of youth and experience. And by the time you look at the next 16 months, hopefully the game plan we put in place, the roles and personnel we have will tick all the boxes, and the championship mentality we are looking for can come to fruition,” the head coach added.

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