West Indies are winless in one-day internationals in India for 24 years, and head coach Daren Sammy wants to end the dominance of the home team in the three-match series starting on September 27 in Thiruvananthapuram. The action will then shift to Guwahati on September 30 before concluding in New Chandigarh on October 3. The Windies side will also compete in the World Cup qualifiers in February next year.

Sammy called the challenge against India an assessment opportunity ahead of the qualifying matches. The West Indies finished 10th and failed to achieve an automatic qualification for the global tournament, with only the top eight teams and co-host South Africa qualifying directly. Even if the West Indies beat India 3-0, they would not qualify, and they must play the qualifiers for their spot in the ICC event.

“We haven’t won a series for 24 years in India. It is a great opportunity for us to come here and challenge ourselves to see where we stand in ODIs. It is a chance for us to give our best performance against India and look to win a series, something we haven’t done in 24 years,”  said Sammy, as quoted by Cricinfo.

Why is the India series important for West Indies?

Sammy sees the matches against India as a measure to test the readiness of the team. West Indies were 19 to 20 points behind when they started their qualification cycle but fell short by just 6 points, showing their progress despite missing the direct entry to the World Cup in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia.

“If you want to win a big ICC event in white-ball cricket, you have to beat India. We are playing them in an away series, and if we perform well, it would give a fair idea as to where we stand on the world stage and how capable we are of playing against big teams. The focus is on the World Cup qualifiers, and we want to be absolutely ready by the time the important games arrive. We have to put ourselves in a position to book the tickets to South Africa,” he added.

Sammy is happy with the emergence of 19-year-old Vitel Lawes, who made his ODI debut against New Zealand in July and took 8 wickets in five games. Sammy is also relying on Shai Hope, Amir Jangoo, Sherfane Rutherford and Alzarri Joseph. The team landed in Thiruvananthapuram on September 23, with Ackeem Auguste set to miss the series due to the recovery process after surgery.

Jewel Andrew has been named as a replacement, while Shimron Hetmyer has been rested after he participated in the CPL 2026. He will return for the T20Is.

“Shai Hope is not the only one to score centuries. We have different players who are amassing hundreds.  Amir Jangoo has been brilliant while Sherfane (Rutherford) is also showing signs of brilliance. Alzarri Joseph is back bowling and won the CPL title with Antigua. We want to give everybody a chance in three ODIs against India,” he mentioned.

“Vitel has been a find for us, and we all saw what he did against New Zealand in the ODI series. Vitel is a spinner we were looking for, and he was magnificent straightaway. He has a long way to go and is still a work in progress. We will keep monitoring his development. He is working hard with Nikita Miller and Ravi Rampaul here on tour. We will give him chances. He was fast-tracked, but we are pleased with him,” he concluded.