IND vs WI 2025: Daren Sammy eyes inspiration from New Zealand as West Indies gear up for India Tests

Published - 19 Sept 2025, 16:04 IST | Updated - 19 Sept 2025, 16:10 IST

West Indies head coach Daren Sammy is looking to draw inspiration from New Zealand, who defied expectations by whitewashing India 3-0 last year. The former T20 World Cup-winning captain, who has been coaching the West Indies across all formats, has urged his team to prepare with the belief that they can beat India on Indian soil.

Since winning the third Test of their 1994 tour at Mohali, the West Indies have not won a Test in India, losing seven of the nine matches played here. One Test, at the Wankhede Stadium in 2011, ended in a draw with scores level in the second innings. Given these odds, India were understandably the favourites, but Sammy cited New Zealand’s triumph as a source of motivation for his side.

“We’re definitely going down there with the mindset to win. We’re not just going to go down there and think, ‘oh, it’s India’. No. New Zealand went there and did incredibly well and that we should take inspiration from. But again, it’s understanding the things that New Zealand did in those conditions and try to emulate it with our guys as well,” Sammy said as quoted by The Indian Express.

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The West Indies squad will fly out to India after the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) 2025 concludes this weekend. Sammy emphasised that preparing under Indian conditions will be critical. Like most visiting teams, they will head straight into the Test series without playing any practice matches.

“From my end, the ten days leading up to the [first] Test match [in India], we’ll be drilling in all these things and planning very well as to how we’re going to beat India in India,” Sammy said.

On their previous tours, the West Indies have consistently struggled against Indian spinners. Apart from the Eden Gardens Test in 2002, they have failed to seriously challenge India in the other eight Tests, losing five by an innings and one by 10 wickets. Given this history, the challenge facing the West Indies is immense, especially as India, without a Test series win in the past 12 months, is expected to return to winning ways.