West Indies to go with multi-leader strategy in World T20

Dhaka: Captain Darren Sammy has reiterated that the West Indies are not a one-man team, and that it will take a team effort to successfully defend their title in the Twenty20 World Cup. Speaking after arriving here Sunday, Sammy noted that despite the presence of big-hitting opener Chris Gayle, the team would need contributions from every member to do well in the March 16-April 6 tournament, reports CMC. “Chris to me is the most destructive T20 batsman in the world,” Sammy said. “It’s a great asset for us having him in the side but like in Sri Lanka when we won the title, it took a total team effort. The key players, different guys chipped in in different games. “It’s no different this time. We’ve got to play as a team, we’ve got to gel well together and hopefully performances will come from the key players.” The West Indies team have also decided to experiment with multi-leader strategy wherein the responsibilities will be shared among the individuals. This means they will have a batting, bowling and a fielding leader. Skipper Darren Sammy thinks that this strategy will help them execute their plans better. “The sharing of responsibilities give players a good idea of what is to be done on the field and everybody is clear about what is needed to be done and once you are clear in your head you can execute the plans better,” Sammy told The Indian Express. Earlier, team India had reportedly implemented an off-field multiple-captaincy theory in World Cup 2003 where they had seven men marshaling the troops – One proper skipper, two batting captains, two bowling captains and two fielding captains. The strategy proved to be useful as India had a successful outing ending up as runners up in the tournament. [caption id=“attachment_1438781” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File picture of West Indies players celebrating. REUTERS[/caption] Gayle is the most sought after T20 batsman in World cricket and has plied his trade in the cash-rich Indian Premier League and other franchise leagues across the globe, with much success. Much will defend on the big-hitting left-hander but the West Indies also have Dwayne Smith, Marlon Samuels and Dwayne Bravo, all seasoned international T20 players. Sammy said with these quality players, the Windies believe they could make history in coming weeks. “We have come here to win again. We believe we have the firepower and the belief to do it again,” he pointed out. “No team has ever retained the ICC World T20 title and we want to be the first team to achieve that feat.” West Indies men face England in a warm-up game in Futullah Tuesday before opening their campaign against India Sunday. With inputs from IANS