Friday, June 5, 2009

Preview – West Indies


The West Indies are struggling in World cricket since the exit of first, Curtly Ambrose & Courtney Walsh & then Brian Lara. They have won only one major cricket tournament, the Champions Trophy in 2004. Since then, it has seen new lows in the world of cricket. Their current captain Chris Gayle seems to love the T20 format more than any other player in the world. Also the recent performance of his team against England in the Tests & ODIs hasn’t been too exciting. There key players like Gayle himself, Bravo & Dwayne Smith enjoyed huge successes for their respective teams in both the seasons of IPL.

They are in ‘The Group of Death’ with strong contenders of the cup like Australia & Sri Lanka. It is the only group that does not have any associate team & that what worries West Indies, the most. Though, they have beaten Australia in the only T20 game played between these two sides & they haven’t faced Sri Lanka a single time.

Strengths

Batting: Stars like Chris Gayle, Sarwan, Chanderpaul, Bravo & Smith in the top & middle order & Ramdin & Kieren Pollard in the lower order – are the real guns of this Island team.

Bowling: Fidel Edwards’s raw pace could be more than handy in this format. Forget about scoring runs, even if batsmen survive in front of him or not, that is the question. Also the likes of Dwayne Smith – with his slow medium pace & spin of Suliemann Benn (few teams have faced him) could prove crucial.

Weaknesses

Poor form of most of the players could hurt the Windies. Also youngsters like Andre Fletcher & Xavier Marshall can become soft targets if Gayle, Sarwan & Chanderpaul departs early. Same is the case of bowling, where after Fidel Edwards, no real fast & accurate bowler is there & if he goes for some runs, it will be really difficult for other bowlers to stop opponent batsmen.

Opportunities

To show the world of Cricket that lost glory can be brought back with just the right mix of youth & experience. Younus Khan – The captain of Pakistan has said that West Indies could spring a few surprises, is not wrong & unjustified, provided the Windies become very complacent.

Threats

The two other teams in the group are the only threat to West Indies. Complacency against either Sri Lanka or Australia could prove very harmful for the West Indies. Chris Gayle should do everything possible to inspire his team to bring back the lost glory.
Squad

Chris Gayle (capt), Denesh Ramdin, Lionel Baker, Sulieman Benn, David Bernard, Dwayne Bravo, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Fidel Edwards, Andre Fletcher, Xavier Marshall, Kieron Pollard, Darren Sammy, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Lendl Simmons, Jerome Taylor.

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