West Indies, you beauty!

A thing of beauty is a joy forever – John Keats

True to these golden words, they take to the field, not like fiery gladiators in a colosseum, but with a nonchalance of their own and entertain us with their craft. They are as vibrant as they play – fancy hairstyles, funny histrionics et al. They may not be ‘conventional’ in the true sense of the word, but who is these days. It’s almost like an air infused with the calypso and reggae when they play. They have a style - unconcerned but not naive. Their aura may not be like that of the seventies any more, but they still got a charm for which a modern day cricket lover would fall for.

From the past till the present, it’s always been a one West Indies – a fearless one. Be it the four-pronged pace attack who sent shivers down the spine of the batsmen or a certain unkempt Viv Richards walking with a swagger, chewing a gum and unleashing his power on the bowlers or the brutal Chris Gayle whose fury we witnessed in the last match against Australia. But it’s not a purposed aggression, it’s probably their way. They are neither noisy like the Aussies or the English nor larger than life celebrities like the Indians; they are in a realm of their own. They let their game do the talking – be it the likes of the ‘Big Bird’ Garner or the man of few words, Curtly Ambrose. It may take some time before we take these names and those of the present players in the same breath but this T20 World Cup may just be the start.

Apart from the game, the West Indies cricket team has always had some importance attached to them. As the director of the movie Fire in Babylon Stevan Riley aptly puts it in an interview; the team of the eighties provided this sense of escape from the monotonous English cricketers because they were so full of life and characters in themselves. For many, they were a symbol of an ethnic and a cultural uprising as the West Indies trounced England 5-0 in 1984 and the series was consequently dubbed as the ‘blackwash’. As the former Jamaican prime minister Michael Manley puts in his book, A History of West Indies Cricket – “the focus for the longing of an entire people for proof: for proof of their own self-worth, their own capacity . . . What better place than to advance this proof than in cricket?”; such was the people’s allegiance back in those days when they took on their former colonial rulers. We live far from those times now and even though the game isn’t as popular in the Caribbean now, the present West Indian outfit surely knows how to live up to the moment and cheer up the crowd.

Their flamboyant celebrations – the chicken dance, a wrestler’s imitation or the whole team jigging to Gangnam Style – show us that cricket is just a game at the end of the day and the best way to approach it, well at least T20 cricket, is to enjoy it. They bring that fun element to the table – no wonder that some of the West Indian islands rank consistently high up on the Happy Planet Index (HPI). The sight of Gayle and Pollard breaking into a laughter after demolishing a bowler isn’t an act of condescension, it just shows how confident they are. Anyone can hardly guess that these players were embroiled in a bitter clash with the West Indies Cricket Board(WICB) a few months ago.

They may be a mere shadow of their former self but for a format like T20 cricket, they have the perfect ingredients. The way they made a mockery of the Australians in the semi-final underscored why they were given the tag of favorites before the tournament. Going by this tournament, a good captain, a carrom ball spinner and a few batsmen who can clear the ropes at their will – is what all you need and the Windies surely have all the arsenal in their backyard. Cometh the final of the T20 world cup on Sunday, they will be facing a team as ‘unconventional’ as themselves but probably a tad more disciplined. Also, the Lankans will have a massive home support on their side. It will be interesting to see how their big guns approach a game of such intensity.

Having not won any silverware since the 2004 Champions Trophy, they will be desperate to lay their hands on this T20 World Cup. They may have struggled in test cricket and even in one day cricket in the modern times but with the IPL experience, players like Pollard, Bravo, Narine and not to mention, Gayle make for a perfect T20 team. Whether it’s a dawn in the making for West Indian cricket or a sheer fluke, time will only tell but for now, they look as good on paper as the guys from the other island nation. Let’s hope the West Indies live up to the expectations and bring the glory days of calypso cricket back.