Sammy at the helm to renew West Indies hopes

West Indies begin their T20 World Cup mission under Darren Sammy with a Group C fixture against a relatively feeble Papua New Guinea at the Providence Stadium in Guyana on Sunday. 

The Windies are now looking for redemption under the guidance of Sammy, a coach who knows what it takes to win the T20 World Cup after he captained them to the title in 2012 and 2016.

The co-hosts will look to bury the heartbreak of failing to qualify for last year's 50-over World Cup. The glory years of West Indian cricket are long gone as the team that won the first two editions of the 50-over World Cup did not even make the cut for last year's tournament in India - the first time ever that they had missed the event.

Sammy was appointed as West Indies' limited-overs coach in May last year after the resignation of Phil Simmons following their first-round exit at the 2022 T20 World Cup.

While the 40-year-old will be desperate to get West Indies back on top of the world, he hopes his bowlers can step up and make the most of home advantage.

"Bowlers have been under the pump," the former all-rounder told Reuters in a telephone interview from his T20 World Cup trophy tour in Saint Lucia. "It's not just the young bowlers, every single international bowler has been under pressure.

"Look at the IPL (Indian Premier League) right now. Teams are scoring 200 and it's not a safe total. It tells you that the batters are really dominating T20 cricket now.

"The difference will be some X-factor bowlers. Whether that's pace, whether that's mystery spin you'd need that in your armoury in order to defend totals or restrict opponents."

West Indies have never lacked firepower in the batting department and will be able to rely on the experience of Nicholas Pooran, Andre Russell and Shimron Hetmyer, among others.

In the opposite corner, Papua New Guinea come into the contest with an impeccable record of 14 wins in their last 18 games. They are led by the enterprising Assad Vala and are set to appear for the second time at the major event.

PNG maintained an unbeaten record in the qualifiers, winning six consecutive matches. With plenty of all-rounders in the squad, PNG have a versatile unit that can test the bigger teams in the group.

Highlights

West Indies

*West Indies have been the first team to win two T20 World Cups, and their current head coach Daren Sammy is Saint Lucia's first international cricketer and remains the only player in history to have led the team in two victorious campaigns.

*No team have defended the T20 World Cup crown yet but West Indies and Pakistan, as holders, advanced the farthest -- till the semifinals in 2014 and 2010, respectively.

*On their path to ensuring a second appearance, PNG went unbeaten, topping the East Asia-Pacific Qualifier last year by winning six consecutive matches on home soil.

*They have 10 survivors, including captain Assad Vala, from the 2021 campaign in which they lost all three matches.