The Case For The West Indies In The Cricket World Cup
The West Indies offer more off field news than actual substantial performances with bat and ball, which makes them the weirdest team at the World Cup. Without Dwayne Bravo, their former captain who was the main man behind the Windies pulling out of their tour of India which hurled poo towards the fan, as well as the rather talented Kieron Pollard, the Windies still have plenty of talent in their World Cup squad.
Bravo has paid the price for his actions which are rooted in an ongoing silly battle between the West Indian players and the cricket officials who run the show. It's messy so there's not much point in trying to explain it but it's important to set the scene as the Windies come down under with a weakened squad thanks to political dramas. Rather dumb really.
Anywho, Jason Holder is the captain which is probably equally as weird as all the dramas surrounding the Windies squad. Despite being a very young lad and having sporadic experience, Holder has a group of cricketers around him that not only form a supportive sounding board but also the core of the team. You have to imagine that this is a good sign for the future with Holder thrown in to the deep end, he should be better off for the experience and he's definitely not leading a bunch of youngsters.
Any team with Chris Gayle is going to go alright. Perhaps you could use Gayle as a metaphor for the West Indian cricket team as they are both inconsistent and can be equally as awesome as they are average. Gayle's style - whacking it to all parts gives the Windies an edge, well not so much an edge as most of the World Cup sides have an explosive opener (let alone two), but it pulls the Windies closer to the teams ranked above them. Gayle can, by himself, either bat their opponent out of the game or make up for some average bowling by getting their run chase off to a fast start.
The key for the West Indies however is their batting at 3, 4 and 5. It's hard to say who will open with Gayle, Dwayne Smith opened in their first ODI against South Africa but the likes of Darren Bravo, Marlon Samuels and most likely Lendl Simmons will have a mountain of work to do. Bravo isn't in South Africa but has been named in their World Cup squad and he hasn't featured a whole lot in any international cricket as of late. That's a worry, but the fact that he's been named is a huge boost as he's one of their most gifted batsmen as well as having the most potential. Bravo and Samuels have had moments in their careers where they've been amongst the best batsmen in the world, they could do something similar in the World Cup.
With Andre Russell and Darren Sammy both in the squad, there's enough balance to give the West Indies options. Both Russell and Sammy are more than capable of saving an innings as they are finishing an innings off, throw in to the mix how fragile the Windies batting can be and they will need as much batting as possible. We've seen Russell bowl recently in the Big Bash and he's a fair bowler who bowls quick and offers some variety with extra bounce, that's a huge bonus for an all rounder while Sammy offers some military mediums. Military mediums with many tricks up his sleeve and experience in a range of situations.
The ability of Russell and Sammy gives the Windies the opportunity to play both Sunil Narine and Sulieman Benn who give it a bit of a tweak. That's a heavy understatement as they are two superb spinners with Narine able to spin it both ways and Benn offering some left arm spin from a height. If they're bowling well they could build pressure on the batsmen as they'll both bowl pretty quickly and keep it tight. Narine especially is noted for the pace at which he bowls which doesn't allow the batsman much time to judge what he's serving up.
Holder's captaincy throws a bit of a spanner in to the works as you would assume he will be selected every game. He's primarily a pace bowler but has been known to be a decent all rounder as well. With Kemar Roach, Jerome Taylor and Sheldon Cottrell in the squad there are plenty of options in the pace department. Let me do some math - Smith, Gayle, Bravo, Samuels, Simmons, Ramdin, Russell, Sammy, Narine ... ah that doesn't work really unless their two front line pace bowlers are Holder and Roach, which is do-able. Point being they have a whole lot of flexibility as they can take out Simmons and move every one up a spot as well as playing two sinners or three quicks depending on conditions.
It's tough to see the West Indies competing with the best teams at the World Cup because they don't have the world class players that a few other sides do. They've got some match winners for sure and they have a low key strong squad of decent international cricketers which will give them a sniff, they just need to consistently perform. Maybe if they get a few big wins under their belts early on and their engine room of Bravo and Samuels find some form, as well as Narine being unplayable then they could do something cray cray.