West Indies skipper Darren Sammy today gave debutante pacer Mohammad Shami the credit for India's crushing win but also blamed his batsmen for their "rash and irresponsible" shots which cost them the first Test of the two-match series inside three days.
"We are much better team than how we played. Credit must go to India the way used the old ball especially the debutant Shami," Sammy told reporters after India took a 1-0 lead with an innings and 51 runs victory today.
"He got the ball reversing quite well and our batsmen were not patient enough starting with me and from the top. We got the ball to move, to reverse a little bit. The difference between our bowlers and Shami was the length.
"He was bowling the ball into the pitch, bowling wicket-to-wicket. When he was reversing into the right-hander, he started on a good length, outside the off stump, hitting the stumps. Our bowlers were bowling it full, under the bat, or short. We were not consistent in our line and length. He showed us how to do it. And that is the way it should be done," he added.
Sammy, however, said nothing is lost as they would look to come back stronger in the second and final Test in Mumbai that will bring curtains down on Tendulkar's glittering 24 years career.
"I remembering saying in the pre-match that we hope Indians will play a lot of shots. But it's our batsmen who played the shots. There's a lot to think about. All is not lost. We have to come back much stronger in Mumbai," he added.
Asked about Chris Gayle's rash shot selection, he said: "You can't point out one person. As a batting group we have not batted well at all. A lot of rash shots were played, irresponsible shots like I said it started with me as captain especially in the first innings.
"But it is something each individual has to pick up on their selves, be responsible for the runs for the team. As a group we did not do that in any of the innings. One of our goals is to bat at least 130 overs in the first innings."
Sammy further said that they would have to take a lesson from India as far as batting was concerned.
