"Can't wait to get my hands on him in this squad" - Daren Sammy on Shamar Joseph playing white-ball cricket for West Indies
West Indies white-ball coach Daren Sammy recently expressed his excitement about having young sensation Shamar Joseph in the ODI and T20I squads once fit.
Despite having only nine games of domestic experience across formats, Joseph took the cricketing world by storm in his debut Down Under. With his electrifying pace-bowling, Joseph helped the Caribbean side achieve an improbable 1-1 draw in the two-match Test series in Australia.
The speedster bagged 13 wickets in the two Tests, including figures of 7/68 in the final innings of West Indies' famous eight-run win in the second Test at Gabba.
Speaking to reporters ahead of the white-ball leg of the Australian tour, Sammy admitted Joseph's heroics had created a welcome headache for the think tank.
"He will definitely be an all-format player. "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," Sammy said.
"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," he continued.
Joseph was not selected for the white-ball series' against Australia despite Sammy revealing conversations about adding the pacer to the limited-overs squads. He had to withdraw from participating in the ILT20 due to the toe injury suffered on the third day of the Gabba Test.
Sammy spoke about allowing the youngster to recover completely from injury and celebrate the moment with his family.
"We ride the wave that's happening there, but we won't go crazy. If the guy's injured, let him go home and rest. That's probably the first time he's been away from home for so long. He's got a young family. So we understand. Whatever we do is well-planned and well thought out. I think going home to his family, enjoying this moment is important. Because victories like that don't come around all the time," added Sammy.
Shamar Joseph has played only a combined four List-A and T20 games in his domestic career with minimal success.
West Indies will play three ODIs followed by as many T20Is, starting at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Friday, February 2.
"When somebody performs like that the team rises" - Daren Sammy
Daren Sammy hoped the other players in his side could take inspiration from Shamar Joseph's sensational performance in the Gabba Test despite battling a toe injury.
After being struck on the toe by a Mitchell Starc yorker in the West Indies second innings, Joseph was forced to retire hurt. With question marks over his returning to bowl in the final innings, the youngster single-handedly won his side the series-leveling Test match.
"When somebody performs like that the team rises, and it was so good to watch. 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," said Sammy.
The victory was the West Indies' first in Tests against Australia since 2003 and their first in Australia in the red-ball format since the 1996-97 tour.
After the embarrassment of not qualifying for the ODI World Cup last year, the Caribbean outfit defeated England in the home ODI and T20I series before the Australian tour.