West Indies cricket - A Renaissance or a flash in the pan?

West Indies have comprehensively won the World T20 at Sri Lanka. Though they were restricted to a modest total thanks to some disciplined bowling by Sri Lankan spinners and Angelo Mathews, Marlon Samuels’ extraordinary knock ensured that they had something to defend. Many thought that the chase would be quite easy for Sri Lanka, thanks to home crowd. But a spirited West Indies bowling and fielding unit ensured their first T20 World Cup victory, and a first World Cup victory since the 1979 World Cup.

There have been many factors behind West Indies’ performance. First of all, credit must be given to Darren Sammy, who was appointed as the captain during their troubled times. He has been behind his team, no matter what. And finally his faith and determination was a very important factor in their victory. Then secondly, the big hitters. Each batsman is a potential game changer, and their performance was exactly what the team needed. While Gayle ensured a quick start for the team, the middle order and lower middle order ensured that they scored a competitive total. And finally, the team work had been excellent. Much was spoken about the over dependence on Gayle. But they disproved what critics had to say and deservingly, the World Cup was theirs.

So, now the talks have started regarding the future of the West Indies team. Especially, when one sees the problems their team faced due to conflicts with the selection board, this victory means a lot to them. But whether it is a flash in the pan, or a deserving victory cannot be said as of now. Their performance in test cricket is still not up to the mark, barely able to give any competition to top teams. And considering their ODI performances, they are still as inconsistent as they ever have been. Though their T20 performances have been pretty good since its inception, T20 is not as testing as test cricket. Their first real test will be after the retirement of their batting order mainstays, Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Chris Gayle.

Though Chris Gayle still has a few years of cricket left in him, it will be interesting to see how they cope up after the retirement of Chanderpaul, who is nearly at the twilight of his career. And secondly, their bowling department. Sunil Narine has indeed been a great find, and Sammy and co. are good with the bowl too. But Narine has not really been tested much in test cricket and as to their pace bowling, they are still a little weak in that department. They still need improvement in bowling department.

So to conclude, congrats to West Indies team for their brilliant performance in World T20. I hope to see the Windies team do well at the international level and be a team which will be a force to reckon with in all forms of the game.