Former West Indies all-rounder, captain, and 2-time World Cup winner Darren Sammy is better off without the Pakistan national head coach role.
Currently, he only wants to manage and win PSL with the Peshawar Zalmi, which is led by star batter Babar Azam. Under Sammy and Babar’s head coach-captain duo, the Zalmis find themselves 3rd in the points table with 11 points from 9 matches.
Now as we all know, Pakistan are hunting for a new head coach and they have Shane Watson as well as Darren Sammy on the shortlist. The PCB is looking to start things afresh after new Chief Mohsin Naqvi took office. It seems that cricket in Pakistan is taking a new turn in its administration and hiring a new head coach is a priority in the last at the moment.
Upon coming across the question of whether or not he would like to take up the Pakistan national team head coach role, Darren Sammy said he is simply not thinking about it. His entire heart and mind are only thinking about getting results in the ongoing 9th edition of the Pakistan Super League.
Following his stint with Peshawar Zalmi as a player, Sammy joined as head coach, taking over from former English keeper-batsman James Foster ahead of season 8. His first season as Zalmi head coach went very well as his side, after finishing 4th, went on to beat Islamabad United in the 1st Eliminator.
However, they lost to eventual champions Lahore Qalandars in the second eliminator but this season he is determined to take another step forward and lift the PSL title.
“My focus right now is on Peshawar Zalmi and its coaching, I am not focused on anything including the coaching of the Pakistan team, I want to focus only on winning the title for Zalmi.” – Darren Sammy said in a press conference.
The 2-time T20 World Cup-winning captain in 2012 and 2016 also thanked the services for the services of Wahab Riaz and Hasan Ali. That Peshawar Zalmi reaches PSL play-offs, is a testament to the franchise’s strength, feels Sammy.
“Qualification for the playoffs in every PSL season is a testament to the players’ performance. Players like Hasan Ali and Wahab Riaz have given a lot of services and contributed.” – Sammy concluded.
Darren Sammy also praised the Zalmi captain and Pakistan Super League’s all-time highest scorer Babar Azam for his leading the team incredibly well. He also had high praise for talented players like Mohammad Haris, Saim Ayub, and Mehran Mumtaz for having a bright future.
“Babar Azam is now leading the team and the players are performing well under his leadership. Mehran Mumtaz, Mohammad Haris, and Saim Ayub are the future.” – Sammy concluded.
This particular PSL edition is a lot more important than the previous ones as the ICC T20 World Cup is on the horizon. They do have a 4-match T20I series to play for in England in late May and the gap between the 4th T20 and Pakistan’s T20 WC group stage match is only of 7 days. Pakistan will begin their T20 World Cup campaign in the USA and West Indies against the former host nation on June 6.