Published: Feb 17, 2015, 01:00 PM (IST)
Edited: Feb 20, 2015, 11:17 AM (IST)
An unsettled West Indies started their campaign in ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 with a humiliating defeat against Ireland. The West Indian squad looked like a demoralised unit. It was evident that the recent controversies in the lead up to the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 had an effect on them. In this situation, what will be West Indies’ performance in this tournament? Sandipan Banerjee finds out. SCORECARD: Ireland vs West Indies ICC Cricket World Cup 2015
After the famous triumph against two-time world champions West Indies, Ireland’s skipper William Porterfield differed with term ‘upset’ which some media organisation were associating with this victory. In a way he was quite right. Ireland completely outplayed the West Indies in most of the departments. Even when they were chasing more than 300 runs against a bowling line-up which has quality and experienced pace bowlers, the Irish batsmen never looked under any kind of pressure. So no way that was an upset. REPORT: Ireland embarrass West Indies in ICC Cricket World Cup 2015
A non-Test playing nation, outclassed the two-time World champions in a ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 match. Probably, Monday was one of the darkest days of Caribbean cricket. But what are the exact reasons, due to which the West Indies team’s ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 campaign is in serious danger? Here are the main explanations:
1. Absence of quality and experienced players: Dwayne Bravo and Kieron Pollard are probably among the best all-rounders in the world in limited-overs cricket at this moment. They can easily walk into the One-Day side of any international team. But perhaps for non-cricketing reasons, they were omitted from West Indies’ 15-member squad for this ICC Cricket World Cup 2015. During their humiliation against Ireland on Monday, these two cricketers were badly missed and similar kinds of situations are expected in future as well. Even absence of Sunil Narine was felt in the clash as the West Indies failed to put pressure on Ireland batsmen. Ireland vs West Indies: Jason Holder blames bowlers for loss
2. Jason Holder – the scapegoat skipper: Jason Holder, the West Indian skipper has played only handful of international matches. Holder is still a rookie, then how can he lead a side, that too in a tournament as vast as the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015? Everyone is not Graeme Smith!
3. Lack of motivation, lack of intensity: Against Ireland, when Paul Stirling and Ed Joyce were going all guns blazing, the experienced West Indies team looked clueless and there was lack of motivation too. This lack of motivation will result in lack of intensity, which will not be beneficial for their game plans for this ICC Cricket World Cup 2015.
4. Inexperienced bowling: The Irish batsmen exposed the exposed the inexperience of West Indies bowling. The bowling combination of Jerome Taylor, Holder, and Kemar Roach just couldn’t counter attack of Irish batsmen. What will happen when they will bowl against the likes of AB de Villiers and the Virat Kohli? Also, it is beyond understanding why Ravi Rampaul was not selected? West Indies selectors take the soul out of the the side with Dwayne Bravo, Kieron Pollard
5. Poor form lead up to ICC Cricket World Cup 2015: Controversies on and off the field have hampered West Indies’ performance lead up to the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015. They lost 1-2 against India in an unfinished One-Day International (ODI) series. After that in South Africa, the Caribbean boys lost both the Test and ODI series. They even lost their warm-up match against England and somehow avoided a scare against minnows Scotland by just two runs, even after scoring more than 300 batting first. This poor show just before the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 also had an effect on their confidence level.
If the West Indies would like to put at least a decent show, in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 they need to lift themselves up. A self-introspection is needed. But will this happen, that is the big question.
(Sandipan Banerjee is a reporter at CricketCountry. Cricket has been the biggest passion for him since his childhood. So, when it came to choosing his career, he chose to turn his passion into his profession. Apart from cricket he likes mountain trekking, river rafting, and photography. His twitter handle is @im_sandipan)
