Batsmen must take more responsibility, says Sammy

The West Indies skipper Darren Sammy blasted his batsmen for not taking responsibility after his side slipped to 0-2 deficit in the five-match ODI series against India here.

"We were in a good position to capitalise. We had two set batsmen at 192 for 3. But then they were dismissed in quick succession. We should have made 270-odd runs," said Sammy.

West Indies went into complete disarray in their final nine overs. After Ramnaresh Sarwan (56) and Lendl Simmons (53) cracked individual half-centuries up the order, the Windies middle-order crumbled, slipping from 175 for three in 34 overs to 229 for nine in 48.5 overs.

"The batsmen need to take more responsibility and bat through the end. Someone should have done what (Virat) Kohli did for India," he said.

Defending spinner Devendra Bishoo, who was slightly off-colour yesterday, Sammy said, "He is very young and played in every match since the World Cup. There would be days when he would be off colour." The captain also rued that his team failed to apply pressure after claiming an early Indian wicket in the form of Shikhar Dhawan.

He, however, said that there are a few positives, especially the way Marlon Samuels is coming along and the fact that there is more intent from the batsmen to play less dot balls and have a positive approach against the spinners.

"Samuels has begun to show a lot of consistency. He could do what Michael Bevan used to do, be a good finisher."

Heaping praise on the Indian leg-spinner Amit Mishra, the Sammy said, "He has been posing most problems for us. We would look at his footage and try to find an answer. It has been very difficult to come to terms with him."