IANS, Bridgetown :Captain Darren Sammy believes that the West Indies team that will defend the World Twenty20 cricket title in Bangladesh later this month is much better equipped than the one which lifted the trophy two years ago in Sri Lanka. Speaking here on Friday hours before the squad’s departure, Sammy said his charges were now more experienced, confident and better able to deal with the pressure of international tournaments, reports CMC. “There is always pressure, and especially now being World champions. [But] we’ve grown as a team, guys have gotten more exposure in Twenty20 cricket, we’re more experienced and the belief in the team is quite high and it is a little more vocal than it was in 2012,” Sammy said. “We knew we had a chance of winning but we believed it silently in the dressing room and amongst ourselves. Now we’ve shown that we can win and we know once we go out and execute [we can win]. The guys are much more experienced, much more confident and we actually believe, and we are not afraid to say that we can go out and defend the title,” he said. West Indies will start as one of the favourites in the March 16 to April 6 tournament. They are in a tough Group 2 that includes India, Australia, Pakistan and a yet-to-be determined qualifier. In the last T20 World Cup, West Indies stumbled through the early phases of the competition before finding form in the semi-finals but Sammy believes the team will start the tournament this time with much-needed momentum. “I think we’re in pretty good shape. The best form of preparation is match preparation and in the T20 series against England, we showed that we are ready,” he asserted.
