West Indies men and women team will appear in the final of ICC T20 World Cup 2016. Men’s team plays England and women’s team Australia. West Indies under 19 earlier this year in Dhaka won the championship beating favorites India.
It will serve cricket great shot in the arms if the Caribbean’s win both .No team can celebrate the success in better style. Cricket created West Indies, cricket made them loved all over sporting world. It is possible in case of them only losing to Afghanistan one day and beating the best of the best India the other day.
West Indies male and female teams reaching the finals of T20 World Cup can be no surprises. Given the chemistry of T20 cricket they are the best suited teams. West Indians play cricket for fun and enjoy every minute and everything they do.
Caribbean are true athletes, great entertainers. Aggressive batting, fast and furious bowling, athletic fielding which featured West Indies Cricket in 1970s and 1980s .They were world beaters , they were rocking and rolling . The present team if not of that world beating quality has enough impact players for winning shorter versions of the game .T20 type of hit and run stuff suits them best and most of the leading players have the feel on Indian wickets and environment.
West Indies was tipped among the top four to win the championship this year. The team possesses some top players of the format and mostly bits and pieces all- rounders.
In recent times some incidents in team management could not bring all the impact players together. Even in the present team two match winning players Sunil Narin and Keiron Pollard could not make it for different reasons. But all 15 in the squad have quality to win T20 match with individual brilliance.
Another factor that favors West Indies is that they play without much expectations or crowd pressure. But they have huge fan following them all across the cricket world. For many West Indies is the second favorite team apart their own in the cricket playing world.
Christopher Gayle is rock star of world cricket. He alone can knock out any bowling attack on his day smashing all over the park with brute force. 30 minutes of Gayle at the wicket means breaking the heart of opposition and making rollicking start of the innings .He is a boundary striker and usually hates to run singles. If he is not removed early it is almost impossible to beat a team which has Gayle. He has entertained cricket lovers all over the world in T20 format with his brand of aggressive batting. Him firing in full cylinder will be a deciding factor in the final at Eden Gardens.
We are sure English think tank will plot plan to shackle him .His new partner Charles is also in great form. Charles played the role of Gayle when Bumrah knocked Gayle early in the semifinal. Marlon Samuels is another player who on his day can take apart any bowling attack in his own brilliant aggressive modus operandi. World Cricket has already seen how devastating Lendl Simmons can be.
Andre Russell, Dwayne Bravo, Daren Sammy are also impact players who are always in get set go mode. West Indies bats deep and anyone of those mentioned are capable of winning a T20 match on their own. But English bowlers are thoroughly professionals and will definitely come with plan for every player.
If there is any weak link in West Indies armory it is their bowling. They have some quality medium pacers but no world class spinners to take advantage of slow turning track.
Badree and Benn can still cause some concerns. But Bravo and Company must restrict players like Jason Roy Hales,Roots, Morgan and the rest . England has batsmen for the occasion. Wicket at Eden gardens may be a touch slower and turn.
The final between England and West Indies will have enough quality to suit the great occasion. True the craze of finding Dhoni’s men in yet another final of world competition will be missing. But can assure that it won’t be less mouthwatering fascinating contest.
For the greater sake of world cricket win of West Indies will be welcome. Resurgence of Caribbean Cricket will regenerate the urgency of balancing the supremacy in World Cricket. Sammy and his men can draw encouragement from their Under 19 teenagers.
Wins of West Indies teams at Eden Gardens will make proud CH Lloyd and his world beating West Indies team of 1970s proud. How can world cricket forget how brilliantly Greenidge, Haynes, Lawrence Row , Viv Richards , Kallicharan , Lloyd , Holding ,Roberts , Marshall , Lara ,Ambrose and Walsh served the world cricket?
We are not underrating England in any case .They are in hot form now and have all the elements for winning the top honors in a world tournament which they have never won.
BDST: 1004 HRS, APR 02, 2016
AKA
