Image Credit- CA
Coach Daren Sammy has acknowledged that he has caused
a selection headache, thus West Indies Test hero Shamar Joseph may force his
way into the T20 World Cup considerations this year despite not participating
in the two limited-overs series against Australia.
Last Sunday, Joseph shocked the cricket world by
taking 7 for 68 and leading the West Indies to a historic Test victory over
Australia at the Gabba. His effort followed a historic five-wicket haul in his
first Test match in Adelaide, where he dismissed Steven Smith with the opening
delivery of the match.
Despite playing for the Guyana Amazon Warriors in the
previous year’s CPL, Joseph has only participated in two T20 matches in his
brief career and has yet to claim a wicket in the format. Additionally, he has
only appeared in two List A Super50 Cup games for Guyana.
However, Sammy, the white-ball coach for the West
Indies, was certain that Joseph would excel in all formats for his nation and
might even be factored into the T20 World Cup rankings.
“He will definitely be an all-format
player,” Sammy said. “I can’t wait to get my hands on him in this
squad. But look, everything has a process to it. That’s the way myself and the
chairman of selectors operate. What he’s done, he’s created a really good
headache for me with the World Cup coming up, building forward in the ODI team.
“We got other guys like Jayden Seales, who’s
injured at the moment. So we’re developing a core in all formats that enables
us to pick from good positions, guys that are performing and that’s what you
want as a cricketing nation.”
Sammy was hopeful that Joseph’s performance would
inspire his inexperienced ODI squad in the three-match series against
Australia.
“When somebody performs like that the team rises,
and it was so good to watch,” Sammy said. “You see the smile on my
face every time you go back to that and I just hope my men – whenever
challenges come you can just remember that if you push through, there’s always
gold at the end of the rainbow.”