One may still be rubbing his eyes after what happened in Harare a few weeks ago amid one of the crunch games of the 2023 ODI world cup qualifiers. What a game it was.
Truly unforgettable. Something to savour as cricket fans for the rest of one’s life. The adjectives can be endless.
But to recapture that game means to bring alive the tireless Netherlands spirit, which truly is an exercise in pure joy.
How so?
As a cricket fan, you live for these kinds of games. This game was nothing but a slap on the critics of ODI cricket.
But it must be a horrible sleepless night for a Caribbean fan. Isn’t it?
Undoubtedly, it must be the same for a fan who has been watching this sport from the time when the Caribbeans were the stalwart of the game, and no team could dare to face their fierce fast bowlers and destructive batting.
And now, things aren’t going West Indies’ way, or one can say the Caribbean blokes are not doing things right. After scoring a mammoth total of 375, with some destructive batting displays from Brandon King, Johnson Charles, and Nicholas Pooran, The Netherlands were nowhere near victory, at least after the first innings.
But the Dutch snatched the victory with Logan Van Beek shining with both bat and ball in the Super Over.
In the qualifiers, where we had teams like Netherlands, Oman, USA, and Ireland, who are known as associate teams, a team like West Indies losing two games showed nothing but their inconsistency, inability and inaccuracy in finding the right combinations.
Not that players from this team are not capable of winning matches; it feels like they lack experience even after playing so many years of competitive cricket.
What is really wrong with Caribbean cricket?
From winning two World Cups, we are seeing a disparate road where we are not going to see a World Cup without the West Indies team. Unfortunate for many but totally unbelievable for so so many even today, weeks after the disenchanting news came about.
Forget not that the regal stars of T20 World Cup wins couldn’t go anywhere in the T20 World Cup 2022.
Somewhere in the past, the stalwarts have lost their essence, and one can blame their board for keeping players like Sunil Narine, Andre Russell and others away from the game.
But it’s been years now, and they haven’t been able to build a team. What could be the reason?
Is it the intent that these guys are lacking? Well, Jason Holder wouldn’t have pulled off that stunning catch on the final ball that ultimately led to the Super Over if it was about intent. But he wouldn’t have gone for a boundary on each ball of the Super Over either.
Or is it the pressure of living up to the legacy of the greats, Vivian Richards, Brian Lara, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, and also the players from the destructive era of the Windiescricket such as Kieron Pollard, Darren Sammy and Chris Gayle?
Well, this eleven doesn’t look like a World Cup team barring Shai Hope and Nicholas Pooran, who are having an amazing time in the middle.
Moreover, Alzarri Joseph appears to be the only fast bowler a batter could get the chills from, whereas previously, there was a slew of seamers who only needed to mark the run-up in order to shake the batter’s legs. With Kemo Paul Romario Shephard or even Jason Holder, it doesn’t seem to be the case.
In an ideal world, Cricket West Indies should draw inspiration from a team like Afghanistan and Zimbabwe, who were nowhere near the Caribbeans some time ago and are dominating the Caribbeans now. Even in the T20 World Cup last year, West Indies couldn’t able to make it to the league stage and were out of the competition in the qualifiers. And nothing seems to be different in these qualifiers as well.
Although not all was absolutely jaded and gut wrenching for the West Indies side; we have had some great displays of batting from Shai Hope and Nicholas Pooran in the world cup qualifiers who emerged the top scorers and only ton-makers of the Windies team.
However, on the whole, it felt great to see the way Associate teams approached the game and desired winning every game. This World Cup qualifier edition showed that with each new day, there emerged a new player and one who performed for his team, whether it’s Sikandar Raza from Zimbabwe, anything but an Associate nation or Logan Van Beek from the Netherlands, a rising Associate force. And this is precisely where the West Indies were found limping.
And if you go back to the last World Cup, Carlos Brathwaite’s ton against New Zealand would define the word “intent” for you. Although the Windies ended up on a losing side, the margin was barely that of five runs.
One can’t really see a great team like West Indies (not the team but the legacy) drowning, which had some awe inspiring names back in the day and demonstrated amazing standard of playing competitive cricket.
There must be someone in the dressing room to remind these players what it means to represent their country and how a player should give his all to not only win the game but also create a sense of dominance.
Isn’t that what they were known for? But the point is, what were they even doing in the recent World cup qualifiers competition if they had to be reminded on what it took to win a game? Maybe, there’s a great lesson for the Windies to take from Scotland, easily one of the most impressive and spirited sides in that tournament.
It ought to be mentioned, West Indies’s loss, although now an old story, will indeed haunt them for a long time.
They’ve got to overcome what could be branded a trauma. And this trauma is what they need to get over from.
Image source- Criiic World (www.ipl.ae)
