Sammy's blessing helped me ease into T20 captaincy role: Brathwaite

Port of Spain, Aug 23 (ANI): Newly-appointed West Indies T20 captain Carlos Brathwaite on Tuesday said that a vote of confidence from his predecessor Darren Sammy and encouragement from senior players have helped him ease into his new responsibility. Earlier this month, 28-year-old Brathwaite was named as West Indies captain, replacing Sammy for the upcoming two-match T20 series against India in Florida. Two-time T20 world cup winning captain Sammy had subsequently announced the news of his sacking via a Facebook post before he was dropped from the squad. "He just told me, 'Congratulations'. He heard it before I spoke to him, and he just said, 'Congratulations, it's a big challenge'. He gave me his blessing and as a senior guy appreciated it, which allowed me to ease into the role," Brathwaite was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo. "I haven't officially started yet, but it has allowed me to transition easier from just being told [about the captaincy] to the excitement of wanting to get on the field and lead. It was a good vote of confidence speaking to Sammy, then I saw him at a charity event, saw some of the senior guys as well, all have been telling me positive things." Brathwaite became an overnight sensation after smacking four consecutive sixes to help West Indies defeat England in the World T20 final in India this year. Apart from the CPL, he has played seven ODIs and a Test against India in Antigua since then. While underlining the significance of securing victories for his side, Brathwaite believes that leading the world champions would not be a tough task, pointing out that players share a great camaraderie among themselves. "I don't want to get too deep into the psychology of changing leaders and stuff like that. I think all the guys are mature enough. We have had cases where some of the guys were captains, and then played the next series under a different captain. We are professionals, we all know what we have to go out there and do," he said. (ANI)