'People were wondering we would plays this tournament, we had issues with the board, Mark Nicholas called us players with no brain. But all of us came together.'
The West Indies Cricket Board has slammed Darren Sammy for criticising the lack of support from the board, terming the skipper's outburst following the team's dramatic World T20 triumph as "inappropriate".
Former England cricketer Mark Nicholas, on Monday, tendered an unconditional apology to victorious West Indies captain Darren Sammy and his players for his comments that the cricketers from the Caribbean are 'short of brains'.
West Indies' two-time World T20-winning captain Darren Sammy has defended his team-mate Chris Gayle, who has once again revived accusations of sexism against him with some lewd comments in an interview with a British daily. Gayle, 36, came under fire for asking Australian broadcaster Mel McLaughlin out on a date in a live television interview during a Big Bash Twenty20 game in January. In the ongoing IPL, the Royal Challengers Bangalore opener sparked another sexism row when he asked a Times journalist a string of inappropriate questions. Sammy, however, chose to play down the latest row. "Chris Gayle is the universe boss, a team-mate of mine who I admire and respect. I just think people target Chris for no reason. "To me, Chris is one of our cricketing heroes. He's an entertainer, first, but a lot of people have jumped on his back," Sammy was quoted as saying by 'ESPNcricinfo'. He added, "I always support Chris because of what he does on a cricket field. Yes, we have a responsibility to ourselves, and the people who watch us, but sometimes I feel Chris is a target for newspaper headlines."
An irate Marlon Samuels trained his guns at Shane Warne as he dedicated his match-winning knock to the Australian spin legend, whose comments spurred him to do well.