Why the West Indies are Strong Contenders for Men’s T20 World Cup
Garfield Robinson on why the West Indies may well retain their T20 crown
Despite their incendiary nature, or, perhaps, because of it, no West Indian batter maintained any real level of dominance throughout the 2012 and 2016 Men’s T20 World Cups that the Caribbean side won. Instead, different players turned up with runs in different games, often when the side was in desperate need of them.
In the West Indies’ first game against England in 2016, for example, Chris Gayle pummelled a stunning 100* off 48 balls as the West Indies chased 182. And in the semi-final against India Johnson Charles and Lendl Simmons led the way with 52 and 82* respectively to chase down a formidable target of 192. And who can forget Marlon Samuels’ player-of-the-match performances in both the 2012 and 2016 finals?
And we haven’t even mentioned Carlos Brathwaite’s four consecutive sixes against Ben Stokes! The point is, in both editions, someone always came to the fore, no matter how dire the circumstance.
As the 2021 T20 World Cup approaches, many of the players who made up the 2016 team – Russell, Gayle, Simmons, Fletcher, Bravo, Pollard – are still around. The Caribbean team will therefore maintain many of its old characteristics, most notably its rambunctious batting. And if they are to be successful in the 2021 edition of the T20 World Cup then rambunctious batting will likely play a large part in their campaign.
More than any other team in the game the West Indies are six-hitters. It’s their preferred currency of trade, and it’s not for nothing that Chris Gayle’s memoir is titled Six Machine. The batters who could well form the West Indies’ top six in the World Cup -- Gayle, Lewis, Russell, Pollard, Pooran, and Simmons – have struck a total of 482 sixes in T20Is. No international outfit comes close to that number.
This big-hitting approach can be a drawback, especially on difficult surfaces where batting is not straightforward. This search for sixes means they sometimes sacrifice singles and so endure too many dot balls. In the second T20I in Guyana, for example, there were 50 dot balls in the West Indies’ innings, as opposed to 36 in Pakistan’s. Pakistan won by seven runs.
Unmistakably, there is some merit to the power-hitting approach.
Consider this: the introduction of the three-point line for the 1979-80 NBA season changed the game of basketball. Points, prior to then, were mostly scored in the “paint,” the area close to the basket where the tall centre traditionally dominated. Nowadays the game is spread more over the court and the three-pointer is the preferred way of scoring.
Increased three-point shooting has resulted in increased scores. That’s not unexpected. The three-point basket is worth 50% more than the two-point basket and so it follows that an increase in threes would lead to larger scores.
Like the three-pointer in basketball, a six in cricket is worth 50% more than a four, the next best scoring hit, and leads to bigger totals. This is the path the West Indies have chosen, and while their adventurism will sometimes get them in trouble it makes them rather threatening adversaries. At their best, with their long line of power-hitters in fine form, there is no more dangerous team in cricket’s shortest format. Batsmen like Chris Gayle, Andre Russell, Kieron Pollard, Shimron Hetmyer, and Evin Lewis are six-hitting machines, capable, on their day, of producing the kind of onslaught that can shut any team out of a game.
Yet, there is a vulnerability there too. If you live by the sword then you have to be prepared to die by it as well. Caribbean cricket fans are as aware of their team’s capacity to wreak mayhem as they are of its tendency for implosion.
However, batters like Simmons, Pooran and Lewis have the technique to provide whatever defence the team may require. It isn’t always all or nothing for the West Indies. And if they are to do well in the World Cup, then it is likely they’ll have to overcome difficult passages of play that require resoluteness rather than rambunctiousness.
The bowling
Most would agree that the West Indies possesses the batting power and quality to do well in the tournament. But they are unlikely to reach the end if their bowling is not up to scratch.
With the tournament being held in the United Arab Emirates and Oman, spin is likely to play an important part. The West Indies no longer has the high-level expertise of Samuel Badree and Sunil Narine available, as they had in past tournaments. Fortunately, however, a few young slow bowlers of real promise have emerged.
Leg-spinner Hayden Walsh and left-arm orthodox spinner Akeal Hosein have shown real wicket-taking ability in white ball cricket, and all-rounder Fabian Allen — apart from being destructive with the bat and outstanding in the field — has markedly improved as a slow left-arm option and adds balance to the team.
Although the World Champions don’t have bowlers who can bowl at express pace, they can call upon the nippy duo of Andre Russell and Sheldon Cottrell with the latter having developed a reputation as a Powerplay specialist. Veteran Dwayne Bravo may be nearing the end of a great career, but his death bowling, especially, remains vital to West Indies’ hopes at the other end of the innings.
Obed McCoy — arguably the find of the summer — already has 19 wickets from just 12 T20I games. The left-arm pacer is a wily operator with some of the most deceptive slower balls going around. He’ll be a handful, especially if the pitches slow up as the tournament progresses.
Imperfect, but dangerous
The 3-2 loss to South Africa followed by the 4-1 series win over Australia sums up this current West Indian outfit: the exhilarating batting; the electric catching and fielding; the stifling spin bowling, but also, the occasional profligacy in bowling and the batting collapse that’s always around the corner.
All things considered, however, the Kieron Pollard-led side should wage a strong campaign to retain their T20 World Cup title. They have never been the most reliable team in the game. But when they are good they are often unbeatable.
Header Image: Cricket West Indies Official Twitter
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Their unpredictable nature as you explained is what makes them so dangerous. Personally, I can't see them winning the World Cup this time around but they are a wildcard shout for sure