KHULNA, Bangladesh – Darren Sammy said West Indies need to win the final Test in their series of two against Bangladesh to extend their winning record and boost the confidence in the team.
The second Test between the two sides begins on Wednesday at the Sheikh Abu Naser Stadium in this south-western city.
Speaking ahead of the match, the Windies captain said his side had arrived with a clear mission of winning all the matches on the tour and having won the first Test by 77 runs at the Sher-e-Bangla Stadium in the Bangladesh capital of Dhaka, this objective had not changed.
"The previous match was a hard-fought victory for the team," he told WICB Media. "We have seen more of [the Bangladeshis]. We know how competitive they will play, so we can formulate a better plan for them going forward, both batting and bowling.
"People may say the victory was only against Bangladesh, but we have lacked a winning attitude for too long. We won the two Tests and the previous series against New Zealand, and now we have another chance to do the same thing here."
Sammy said there was still room for improvement from his side and they would look to put things right at a venue which is hosting its first ever Test.
"I would like us to improve our second innings batting," he said. "This is something that has affected us in the past, where we only bat well in one innings and don’t back it up in the next. It was a much better effort in this Test, but it’s still something we can improve.
"The guys who scored runs for us in previous Test series, like Chris Gayle, Marlon Samuels and myself, we didn’t get much in the first Test, yet we still got a big total, so it’s good contributions are coming from different members of the team."
He added: "There’s always room for improvement in any sport, but the players are in a really good frame of mind and we will be looking to come up with another performance that will win us this next Test.
"Once we continue to work as hard as we have done over the last few years, we should come out victorious."
Sammy praised the West Indies bowlers for the hard work they had put into giving the side victory in the first Test and said adding more firepower to the attack with another fast bowler was option being considered.
"We took 20 wickets in the first Test," he said. "In order to win Test matches, you have to take 20 wickets. You have to be able to bowl out the opposition twice.
"I think it was a good decision to play the extra bowler in the first Test. Veerasammy Permaul created some important breakthroughs for us.
"Neither (Sunil) Narine nor I bowled as well as we could in the second innings. The way Tino Best bowled and the way they played him, we may be tempted to play Fidel Edwards, since he too is quite pacy."