Published: Apr 03, 2016, 08:53 AM (IST)
Edited: Apr 03, 2016, 08:53 AM (IST)
West Indies were entangled in an ugly battle between their cricketers and their national cricket board over a contract issue, a few days before their departure for India for the ICC T20 World Cup 2016. And when a solution was arrived at and the team landed in India, not many gave Darren Sammy and company a realistic chance to make it to the final. After all, they were missing key players like Kieron Pollard and Sunil Narine, and the sorry state of cricket in West Indies has long ago quashed all hopes of good and consistent performance from their players. Full Cricket Score: England vs West Indies, T20 World Cup 2016, Final at Kolkata
But, keeping aside all their differences, shortcomings, failures and disappointments, Sammy and his men now stand just one step away from winning their fourth global cricket tournament in history.
Sammy and company deserve richest of praise for an inspired turn around in such a short time period. The cricket world actually failed to notice their threat realistically until they knocked India out of the T20 World Cup in the semi-final. And since they defeated — of all teams, India — West Indies are suddenly the red-hot favourites and are being rated even above a rampant England. READ: West Indies vs England, T20 World Cup 2016 final, Preview: Giant-slayers eye their second World T20 title
West Indies turned around the tables on all adversities and the negativity along the way to the T20 World Cup 2016 final. They stand as deserving winners going into the final versus England on Sunday.
West Indies celebrate their wickets and wins alike, and they know that T20 cricket is the only format where they are world-beaters, even though the pundits do not give them enough respect. Dwayne Bravo declared before the start of the tournament that T20 cricket gives West Indies cricketers a chance to be themselves since it does not demand technical expertise, and he stands vindicated.
“It’s ours let’s go and take it” are simple yet profound words from any player, whose team has remained in the trenches for long. But this was Sammy’s message to West Indies right before the game against India, and it shows how serious they are for winning this one, and shutting up their critics once again, even though it may prove futile.
For a team that won T20 World Cup just four years ago and played semi-final in the last edition in 2014, it must have been really hard to live with the reality that the cruel world out there had not given them a chance to win T20 World Cup 2016. West Indies were taken seriously only after their emphatic win over India, and for that, Sammy deserves a lot of credit. READ: T20 World Cup 2016 Final: Do West Indies after their group stage win against England have the edge?
From Chris Gayle’s stunning 47-ball 100 not out in the first match to last-minute addition Lendl Simmons’ heroic knock against India, West Indies have proven that they are not one-dimensional team that the world perceives them to be. They say they have “15 match winners” in their side, and there should be no doubt regarding this claim after their splendid win over India at Mumbai.
Indians revelled in converting ones into sharp twos and the world went gaga about it, but only a few have noticed that West Indies, with all their flaws and dramas, have turned up in a mood no one imagined. For West Indies, singles and doubles do not count and their game relies entirely on power-hitting. West Indies hit 11 sixes in the semi-final, compared to India’s 4. They know their strengths and weaknesses very well, they do not need the world to keep reminding them about it. All that they know is to execute their strengths well. READ: T20 World Cup 2016 Final: Sunil Narine’s absence might hurt West Indies at Eden Gardens
And for anyone in the bowling side who wants to control that sort of mayhem, you need luck to be on your side as well. That is something which you can never control.
On Sunday night, West Indies will be up against a resurgent England team. Jason Roy can create same impact as Gayle. The efficiency of England spinners can match that of West Indies. England have the firepower across departments to match West Indies’, if not man-to-man. But what England do not have is the mood, the drive and the inspiration which the men from Caribbean have created among them, converting everything negative around them into positive.
(Devarchit Varma is senior writer with CricketCountry. He can be followed on Twitter @Devarchit)
