If West Indies still fancies itself as a six- hitting boundary type team, then we will continue to make up numbers at World Cups as was the case in the 2024 T20 championship.
In winning four games and losing two, it might seem a 66 percentage isn’t a bad display, but West Indies lost key matches that were the difference between not progressing from the second round and going on to win the title.
The effect of losing to South Africa and England was more impactful than defeating New Zealand and Afghanistan as well as minnows Uganda and Papua New Guinea. Batting failures were the 2012 and 2016 champions’ undoing this time around, as has been the case for decades now.
It wasn’t the bowlers, who performed as much as could be expected in the circumstances, as a team cannot win titles with one-dimensional batsmen with power but lacking in the finer skills of batsmanship.
West Indies did not score more than 135 runs against South Africa in the vital win-or-go home game, not because Brandon King was missing due to injury or due to Shimron Hetmyer being left on the reserve bench. It was the batting deficiencies.
A lack of basic fundamentals of footwork in attack and defense and an unwillingness to learn the sweep, conventional and reverse, vital to combating high quality spin, did not help the title winning quest.
Moreso, in the game’s shortest format, swiping across the line of the ball’s delivery, a trademark of Regional players, will never get the job done.
Those flaws have been plaguing the team forever at Test, 50 overs and the 20 overs formats, and South Africa was well aware of it. They employed a three-man spin attack of Tabraiz Shamsi, Keshav Maharaj and Aiden Markram last Sunday and it was over for the Region’s batsmen before it started.
They went down in a heap of poor shot selection as well. Nicolas Pooran is one of the purest timers of the ball in all of the world, but his recklessness has been undermining his talent. He more often than not don’t take time to get a feel of the opposing bowlers or conditions before launching into attack mode and perishes. It inhibits his consistency and it was the case against South Africa even after his scintillating knock against eventual semi-finalists Afghanistan.
Shai Hope, also too impatient and was sent back prematurely while Rovman Powell and Shurfane Rutherford were hapless, trapped in their creases without the ability to sweep the turning ball.
Andre Russell added insult to injury by running himself without using his thinking cap, going for an unnecessary single instead of staying put, to maintain the strike with partner Akeal Hosein, in the 18th overs’ first ball.
At his farewell media conference captain Powell while expressing his disappointment was either unaware of or not willing to dwell on the team’s in adequacies. Instead he stressed positives, pointing out the importance of the team’s rise in the world T20 rankings. At the moment though, despite finishing fifth if net run rate is used to place the teams in the two Super 8 groups, West Indies surely didn’t play like a team in the world’s top three, according to the new rankings.
Powell came off like a few local Guyana sports officials who often cover up national teams’ failures by espousing good performances, despite not returning from competition with evidence to justify success.
Indeed, West Indies did better this time around compared to the 2022 T20 World Cup when they failed to get past the first round group stage in Australia.
But given the home advantage, they were expected to do better than fifth, moreso by Guyana’s fans’ standards, by at least qualifying for a semi-final slot for a showdown in the country, hosting a World Cup last four game for the first time.
From a player perspective, the noteworthy takeaway is the emergence of Roston Chase and Hope, who must now be made first choice picks in any future starting 11.
Before the World Cup, Chase, being a batsman from his career’s onset, has improved his game to such an extent, he should be rated higher than Russell as the team’s premier all-rounder. His bowling has become as impactful as any in the team consistency-wise as he started the competition with the team’s best economy rate.
He ended it second best behind Hosein at 4.00 and added a strike rate of 130 runs, batting much too late in the order.
Hope got into the final 11 belatedly against England and produced the team’s second best individual score, that scintillating unbeaten 82, albeit against newcomers United States. Based on the displays of the two players, West Indies decision makers should make a bold decision to have then added to the Test teams as well. The upcoming series against England should have two additional reserve places for them.
Overall though, West Indies has much to ponder to improve the general quality in both batting and bowling departments.
It has to be accepted by team management that the deficiencies are real and have measures put in place to correct them or else it will continue to inhibit teams from winning World Cups and the Test championship.
Ambition to improve must be key and if West Indies players are to copycat anything at all from those around the world, it must be the work ethic.
Almost every other player out there indulges in endless drills to improve footwork, sweeps, hooks, play straight, bowl yorkers, out-swingers, in-swingers, bouncers etc. Our players have lots to catch up on.
