It has never been about glory & glory alone as much as it has been about trying
More so when everything seems lost and around you are faces crying
It’ll always be about moving forwards
Something the West Indies must work towards
For if their tomorrow is to become a place much better than today
A place where accolades thrive and troubles are kept at bay
Then someone will have to step in and create a way
Though make no mistake, this tomorrow won’t be a paradise carved in imagination
But a minefield laden with challenges that’ll be aced with determination
And one of the drivers for this much-needed change, whose time has come look
Is certainly going to be he who bats on and on like the chosen one
Born in Barbados and known everywhere in the Caribbean,
If you wanted to find a new way to spell Hope then Shai is your first name
That young man trying to salvage the fight,
Giving cricket a new definition of passion, not a turf to conduct mindgames,
And let it be known that if West Indies are to pick themselves up again, one missing piece of puzzle a time,
Shai Hope will be a big reason nearly every time
That’s not to claw back to the days of glory; but to establish reasons to love them for many reasons,
None more bigger or important than believing in this bastion of excellence,
One to which the Laras’, Sobers’, Viv’s have all belonged,
One to which Hope’s name now belongs
For he’s shown already how he can fight for that big future
Whether it was through his slicing of the Irish during his 170, or the centuries at Leeds’ that caused a very English rupture
Shai Hope has shown that all’s going to be fine
For as long as he will create melodies from the bat,
Pop music enthusiasts would call the rhythm divine
But the perturbed bowlers who first saw him go international in 2016 may call it something else
For his 101 versus Zimbabwe, a knock as fluent as they come,
Ensured bowlers felt listless for trouble is all they felt
Much like how Shami, Yadav, Jadeja and Chahal felt
When in response to a very Virat-looking 157*, Shai offered Hope with his unbeaten 123
Bringing the game certainly lost to a tie
And them Windies supporters smiling uncontrollably
For its in innings such as this that one feels certain that the big change is around the corner
That today and tomorrow’s West Indians aren’t going to get cornered
For as long as Shai Hope will protect the heart and soul of West Indies
The fans won’t leave stadia, get dejected, offer scorn or be blown away like the wild breeze
We have amid us a talent of massive scale
The man who aspires to perspire for a team that in enormity of skill is no less than a whale
And for as long as he will work on his game, not be taken aback by the challenge that turning around Windies brings
Shai Hope will keep inspiring and drawing awe for every single being!
Happy 28th, o’ firestarter, giver of Hope!
