“I know the right West Indies combination with a fully focused side can beat anyone on their day,” former West Indies interim coach Richard Pybus had said a day before his side’s fourth ODI against England on their home soil in February.
That tour saw the visitors' status of being the top-ranked side put into extreme jeopardy by the return to form of Chris Gayle, who smashed a record 39 sixes en route to scoring 424 runs in just four innings.
Ahead of the much-awaited 2019 ICC World Cup, the Windies' batting line-up has picked up the momentum and after a long time, they seem like an ideally poised unit with big hitters even down the order.
The team has a perfect blend of youth and experience; players who were an integral part of Windies' U-19 World Cup triumph in 2016 and have now been promoted to the senior team. The likes of Shimron Heytmer, Keemo Paul and Alzarri Joseph played in that World Cup for the Caribbean side, and now join the senior side alongside other youngsters like Shai Hope and Carlos Braithwaite.
Hope, in particular, remains Windies' absolute trump card. Heading into the business end of the year, the 25-year-old has delivered constant performances, which includes a ton against India in October followed by two unbeaten centuries against Bangladesh in December.
AFP / Randy BrooksThe utmost thing before bulging into all these praises though remains the leadership of Jason Holder. Having been named captain early in his career, the then inexperienced Holder has developed his game big time and so has his captaincy. Apart from being a beaming all-rounder, the fact remains that he understands the game much better than most of his colleagues.
The bowling unit, on the other hand, has been complimenting their colleagues decently as well. The power unit of Sheldon Cottrell and Oshane Thomas have provided some much-needed pace to the bowling attack, bringing back some good-old memories. However, the spinning department remains a missing jigsaw. With their inability of picking wickets in the middle overs while also leaking runs in plenty, their spinners Devendra Bishoo and Ashley Nurse have proved out to be liabilities.
One might look up to Sunil Narine as a potential fix for the World Cup but given the fact that his last ODI came in 2016 coupled with his bowling action complications, he remains Windies' last resort.
The positive though remains in form of an experienced campaigner, Kemar Roach, who daunted the English line-up by picking 18 wickets in his side's 2-1 Test series win. Owing to an injury, he was unfortunate to miss out on the ODI squad, but his name on Windies’ team sheet in World Cup is sure to haunt many batters.
