Ahead of the third ODI against India in New Chandigarh, West Indies head coach Darren Sammy said the news of players having to take a pay cut was "not what you want to hear before a series." However, he also acknowled that Cricket West Indies (CWI) has to find ways to stay afloat financially.
Following the CWI's decision to reduce the retainer fee, West Indies' cricketers are going to endure a 25 per cent pay cut. Sammy said they spoke about the situation during the Test series against India last year. "As a professional, that's not what you want to hear before a series. But again, it's no secret to me. I think earlier this year when I was here for the Test series, we spoke about the financial situation of West Indies cricket," Sammy said on the eve of the third and final ODI.
"I guess the administrators, the board, you've still got to find ways to stay afloat. If you have a business that's not doing well financially, you've got to find ways to sustain it. Unless I say abracadabra (magic word) and then we get a big sum of money where we could entice our players to just let them know that everything's going to be okay financially, that's the situation we're facing," he added.
With the series already lose, Sammy felt the bowlers need better discipline to try and keep India batters in control. "We still need to find ways when wickets are not really offering any assistance to the bowlers to be disciplined in our lines and lengths and the plans that we put in. But yeah, we always knew, coming to India, it's always a challenge, not only for us, but for most teams," Sammy said.