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With an undercook squad at helm, will the Calypso be able to retain T20 World Cup?

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West Indies come into the seventh edition of the T20 World Cup as the defending champions and the most successful side in the history of the tournament. They have won two of the last three World Cups defeating hosts Sri Lanka comprehensively in 2012, and then winning a ‘Remember The Name’ freak outing against England in 2016. However, the 2021 edition sees them field their weakest squad ever.

West Indies Squad

Kieron Pollard (c), Nicholas Pooran (vc), Akeal Hosein, Dwayne Bravo, Roston Chase, Andre Fletcher, Chris Gayle, Shimron Hetmyer, Evin Lewis, Obed McCoy, Ravi Rampaul, Lendl Simmons, Andre Russell, Oshane Thomas, Hayden Walsh Jr.

Reserve - Darren Bravo, Jason Holder, Gudakesh Motie, Sheldon Cottrell

There is no Sunil Narine, who ran riot in the 2012 final, picking up three wickets at an astounding economy of 2.45 bowling 3.4 overs.

2.45!

There is no Marlon Samuels, who top scored in both finals for the Windies, shouldering them out of trouble when the rest of the top order failed to provide.

For that matter, they do not have the belligerence of Chris Gayle at the top order anymore. The 42-year-olds inclusion has met with criticism from certain quarters in the Windies camp. Former fast bowler Curtly Ambrose and the ‘Universe Boss’ himself got into an ugly public spat with both players taking pot shots at each other.

After the legendary fast bowler said that Gayle is not an automatic choice in the playing XI and that the left hander “hasn’t had any scores of significance” in the past 18 months, Gayle came out with a scathing reply.

“I am speaking about Curtly Ambrose. I am singling out Curtly Ambrose, one of your own,” the Jamaican lashed out.

“I can tell you personally, and you can let him know that Chris Gayle, the Universe Boss, have no respect for Curtly Ambrose whatsoever. I am finished with Curtly Ambrose,” the 42-year old said. 

“I have no respect, any time I see him I will tell him as well — ‘Stop being negative, support the team ahead of the World Cup.’ This team has been selected and we need past players to support us. We need that, we don’t need negative energy.” Gayle concluded.

Gayle, while not a sure shot starter anymore could occupy the fourth or the fifth position in the batting order, but his dwindling credentials and inability to hit from ball one has put doubts in the heads of many.

The Big Misses

Sunil Narine 

Currently one of the best bowlers going around in the T20 circuit, Sunil Narine is coming off a very successful IPL where he single handedly won Kolkata Knight Riders a couple of games. Narine has pulled out of the T20 World Cup, but has not cited a reason for doing so. Not having Narine means that West Indies go into the tournament without a single spinner who is well regarded and feared across the world. On top of that in the slow tracks of the UAE, Sunil Narine could have been a very handy floater, used to dominate the spin bowling attack.

Fabian Allen

This could have been Fabian Allen’s World Cup.

A free spirit, once probably a little carefree one, Fabian Allen’s stocks have risen rapidly over the past year. Gun fielder, a handy off spin bowler and blazing lower order batsman. 


Once very inconsistent in his performance, Allen turned things around after he missed the 2020 Caribbean Premier League season.

It’s not like he got injured or wanted time off from the hectic schedule, Fabian Allen missed his flight from Jamaica to Barbados by arriving late to the airport. And due to strict Covid-19 protocols in place, he had to bow out of the tournament.

In the next month and a half, Allen’s social media was buzzing with workout videos and he put a lot of effort on his body and his game.

Things did work out, with the right-handed batsman’s T20I strike rate jumping from 120 to 164.28 within a year.

However, he injured his ankle and has been deemed out of the World Cup. This will have major ripples across the team who will be well short of their fourth bowler and a more than able batsman who can give them a quickfire 30 runs on any given day and then save 15 in the boundary.

Andre Russell

Nono. Don’t panic. Andre Russell is not out of the World Cup, well, yet. The famed Dre Russ, who can strike fear in any opposition camp has severe injury concerns to his name. Coming into the World Cup, Andre Russell has not played any international standard games since 26 August. 

Throughout the season, KKR

The Achilles’ Heel

The bowling line-up that West Indies have at the moment is simply not good enough. Their two spinners, Hayden Walsh Jr. and Akeal Hosein do not even have combined experience of 40 T20Is together. On top of that their pace bowling attack of Obed McCoy and Oshane Thomas will be playing their first T20 World Cup. Both pacers have been in good form coming into the tournament, especially McCoy, who has given people a hard time with his left arm fast medium.

Ravi Rampaul has been the surprise inclusion in the squad on the back of his CPL exploits. He has shown the ability to be handy with his variation of off cutters in the tournament, but it is unlikely that he will get a chance in the first XI.

Beyond their opening duo, skipper Kieron Pollard will have to trust the trio of Russell, Dwayne Bravo and himself to deliver the goods in the back end of the innings, since they do not have any other specialist death bowler.

 And if Andre Russell is not fit to play, they might have to ask Roston Chase to chip in with his off spin.

Hit out or get out

With Fabian Allen out and their bowling not in proper shape, the only way that West Indies can survive is if they bat out of their skin. And to be fair to them, they do have that kind of an attack.

In the opening positions the duo of Lendl Simmons and Evin Lewis are as destructive as it gets. Lewis, especially, has been in tremendous form and has shown in IPL what he can do. 

In number three Windies will probably go with Roston Chase, who to everybody’s surprise became the top run-getter in this year’s Caribbean Premier League, playing the role of a sheet anchor. He usually hovers around the strike rate of 125-127 and is a master manipulator of the field. He has shown his ability of using the long handle, but it is unlikely that he will be able to emulate that against the top bowling attacks in the world.

Beyond this number three position, the defending champions have Chris Gayle, Shimron Hetmyer, Nicholas Pooran, Kieron Pollard, Dwayne Bravo and Andre Russell.

Considering the left heavy middle order, it is just about hundred per cent assured that if Andre Russell can keep himself fit, he will play as the number 7 batter in the team and in that case, Gayle will have to sit out.

Rest of the players are automatic starters and pack a heavy punch. They will be responsible for finishing the overs strongly. Shimron Hetmyer can well turn out to be the best bid in this line-up with Nicholas Pooran struggling for runs. Hetmyer has scored at a strike rate of 170 in this IPL and has compiled 242 runs playing in the number 6 position for the Delhi Capitals.


Post Russell or Bravo, whoever the number 7 or 8 is, West Indies will have one more batter in Hayden Walsh Jr. He is a bowling dominant version of Fabian Allen, but has the potential to hit it very big if he manages to connect.

The final two players in the line-up, McCoy and Thomas do not bat much, but the batting the West Indies have, if on song, is the strongest in the tournament. 

They have a good mix of players who are known to dominate pace and spin and can well turn out to be their ‘get out of jail’ card when push comes to shove.

Probable Playing XI

Evin Lewis, Lendl Simmons, Roston Chase, Shimron Hetmyer, Nicholas Pooran, Dwayne Bravo, Kieron Pollard, Andre Russell, Hayden Walsh Jr., Oshane Thomas, Obed McCoy 

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T20 World Cup | AUS vs SA: Familiar foes gear up to light up the Super 12 opener in unfamiliar territory

It is finally the round that everyone has been waiting for in the World Cup. The Super 12 is ready to begin and what better than to start the most crucial stage than with a clash between two of the world’s most competitive sides especially when they face each other- Australia and South Africa. Tales galore of the historic tight games between the two sides, however, none beats the 1999 ODI World Cup semi-final clash. But when it comes to the T20 World Cup, the sides really haven’t had a memorable game as the only time they met in a World Cup tie was way back in 2012 in Sri Lanka where Australia overpowered the Proteas in a five-wicket win. And as far as T20I tussle is concerned, then in 23 games, Australia have won 13 and South Africa eight with the recent record favouring the Aussies 6-4 in last 10 ties. Unfamiliar territory However, all the records discussed above are from either Australia or South Africa or territories that were familiar to both sides in some way or the other. But this time around they are going to be playing in Sheikh Zayed Stadium where both the teams have never met each other before. Also while Australia has played only one T20I at this venue, losing by a huge margin of 66 runs, South Africa have won two out of two games, both of which came way back in 2010. Though both South African and Australian players have played in the IPL in the last two seasons and are very well aware of the conditions of Abu Dhabi, playing as a team and knowing your strengths and weaknesses on a particular wicket is different from playing individually for other teams in a franchise tournament. Thus both the teams are at the same level as far as the familiarity with conditions is concerned. Form leading up to the World Cup South Africa have been in great touch coming to the World Cup as they beat Sri Lanka and Ireland 3-0 in T20Is and also won a five-match series against defending champions West Indies 3-2. Out of the last 10 matches, they have won nine and even in the World Cup warm-up games they beat Afghanistan and Pakistan from situations where it seemed like they might just fumble. On the other hand, the Australian team haven’t really had a good run-up to the World Cup, losing 11 of their last 15 T20Is that they have played in this year. This includes losses against New Zealand, West Indies and Bangladesh. Even after taking into consideration that they were not with their best of the resources in series against Bangladesh and West Indies, the results were just too bad to even discuss anything beyond them. The warm-up games in this World Cup haven’t been too bright for the Kangaroos either as they barely managed to chase down 158 against New Zealand while against India they were hit all over the park. Thus on the basis of form, South Africa seem to be having an upper hand over the Aussies. Australia vs South Africa: Match Details Match Number - 13 Date and Time: October 23, 2021, 03:30 pm IST, 02:00 pm Local, 10:00 am GMT Venue: Shiekh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi Broadcast and Livestream: Star Sports and Hotstar Pitch Report In the four matches that have been played at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in this World Cup so far, the wicket has behaved in a manner typical to slow and low wickets of UAE. It is not a rank turner, but there is something for the spinners if they apply themselves well and the bounce is not two-paced, but salwar ones and cutters can be very useful and so can be a total in the range of 160 or above. Weather Forecast The temperatures in the day are going to remain in between the lower to mid-thirties throughout the course of the game. Humidity will be low, below 45 and hence not much sweating for the players as compared to the recently concluded IPL. the best bet in such conditions would be to win the toss and bat first, give your spinners a chance to use the wicket second and try and extract some help. What did the captains say? Aaron Finch, the Aussie captain was confident of his all-rounders to bowl four overs among them and is thus going with only four specialist bowlers. “We are going with seven specialist batters and four specialist bowlers. We have got a lot of confidence in the depth of our squad and got a lot of confidence in our all-rounders in Maxwell, Stonis and Marsh to bowl four overs,” he said in the pre-match press conference. On the other hand, Temba Bavuma was also chuffed about his team’s performance so far leading up to the World Cup. “In terms of coming up against Australia, there's no bigger motivation for the guys. Clashes against Australia have always been full of fire and we don't expect it to be any different tomorrow. We won't be undermining them by looking at their past results. We know what type of team they are and it will be important we bring our A-game,” he said in the pre-match presser. Team News Australia With Finch clarifying that the team would be going with four specialist bowlers thus the question of Ashton Agar playing becomes an important one as Pat Cummins form in the warm-up games wasn’t great. However considering that the Aussies like to back their stars, both Cummins and David Warner look like certainties playing in this game at least. Probable XI David Warner, Aaron Finch (c), Mitchell Marsh, Steve Smith, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Matthew Wade (wk), Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood South Africa Though spinner Tabraiz Shamsi suffered a groin injury in the warm-up game against Pakistan, Bavuma in the pre-match presser confirmed that he would be available for selection and hence it is assumed that he would be part of the Playing XI. With Rassie van der Dussen in great form, and Aiden Markram and David Miller being great support above and below him, the South African batting packs a heavy punch. Probable XI Quinton de Kock (wk), Temba Bavuma (c), Aiden Markram, Rassie van der Dussen, David Miller, Dwaine Pretorius, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Tabraiz Shamsi, Lungi Ngidi. CE XI Fantasy team Wicketkeeper Quinton de Kock Batters Aiden Markram, Rassie van der Dussen, Steve Smith All-rounders Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis Bowlers Kagiso Rabada, Tabraiz Shamsi, Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa Vice-Captain Rassie van der Dussen Captain Glenn Maxwell

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T20 World Cup | Sri Lanka bowlers thump Netherlands to end to their miserable campaign

It was a dominating performance by the Sri Lankan team as they beat the Netherlands by eight wickets in their last Round 1 game to get to the Super 12 stage with three big victories under their belt. It was actually a no match as far as both the teams were considered on the field. The Lankans dismissed the Dutch for a paltry 44, the lowest total in this World Cup and the second-lowest total ever in any T20 World Cup. From there on there was no coming back for the Orange brigade as the Lankans, even after losing last match’s half century-maker and opener Pathum Nissanka for a duck in the second over managed to chase down the total in only 7.1 overs courtesy of a fine knock of unbeaten 33 from wicketkeeper batter Kusal Perera who showed signs of coming back to form after being out of it for the last two games. However the problem up top continued for the Lankans as Charith Asalanka, who was selected to replace Dinesh Chandimal in the playing xi didn’t do any better either as he was dismissed for only six runs. It still remains a mystery as to why Dhananjaya de Silva is not being tried despite him being a great strike maker. The Sri Lankan bowling was top class once again as it has been throughout Round 1. Wanindu Hasaranga’s leg-spin was just too much for the Dutch batters to handle and added to that was the speedy inswinging yorkers from Lahiru Kumara and the mystery spin of Maheesh Theekshana. The three among themselves accounted for the nine wickets in the Netherlands innings, while Max O’Dowd was run out. Courtesy of topping Group A in Round 1, the Sri Lankan team will now be placed in Group 1 at the Super 12 stage where they will compete against the likes of England, West Indies, South Africa, Australia and Bangladesh for the top two spots to move into the Semi-Finals.

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T20 World Cup | Motivated England eager to rewrite history against experienced West Indies

"Experiencing that, for some of our guys, is still a motivation," Those are the words of the England captain Eoin Morgan’s before the start of the Super 12 of the T20 World Cup and the “that” he referred to, is the heartbreaking loss they suffered at the hands of West Indies in the final of the last edition of the tournament. The five-year-long build-up Then, he followed up with, “Since then we have been favourites in every world tournament we have played in - the 2017 Champions Trophy and 2019 World Cup,” to establish what his team have been able to achieve in the five years after that horrible night. It is with that feeling and memories that Morgan called “motivational” for himself and his side, that they are set to open their campaign against the same side. When he will walk for the toss for the first time in the tournament, he will have a different counterpart in Kieron Pollard that will make him realise once again that that “that” loss is left far behind and both the sides have moved past it. After that defeat, England picked themselves up from the disappointment and doubled down on aggression with the bat and adopted a ruthless approach that strengthened the core of the side and led to a world cup triumph. On the other hand, West Indies’ journey with on and off performances continued and it became so evident that the name “Karlos Brathwaite” that the legendary commentator Ian Bishop wanted the world to remember has been forgotten by the West Indies side themselves. It is with that setting and backdrop that Morgan and Pollard will walk down to the ground in Dubai and neither of them will be willing to shed an inch and early mover’s advantage. Match Deatils England vs West Indies Match no.: Match 14, Super 12 Group 1 Date and Time: October 23, 06:00 pm Local, 07:30 pm IST Broadcast: Star Sports Network, Hotstar (in India) Pitch Report This will be the first game of the tournament at the Dubai International Stadium while there is a certain amount of intrigue and unknown about the nature of the surface, what is guaranteed is that there will be a fresh surface. If the matches of the Indian Premier League are the piece of evidence to go by, there will be the pace and carry on offer to the pace bowlers. Also, the pacers who rely on cutters and change of pace can come in handy if it is a drier surface and it can also bring spinner in the game. Contests within contests Tymal Mills vs Kieron Pollard Tymal Mills is likely to be back for England after a gap of nearly five years and he has a prolific record in the end overs of the game. If England have to ace the game in that phase of the game, he will have to come at the top of Windies batsmen hungry for big sixes, especially their skipper Pollard. Pollard is a veteran of the T20 format and uses the last few overs to lift his team’s score or get them over the line by using all his muscle to threaten the opposition bowling attack. Mills has an excellent mixture of rapid pacey deliveries and slower balls and he could instrumental in flummoxing Pollard and subsequently combatting the firepower of the Windies batting lineup. Windies' history and experience West Indies have not been defeated yet by England in a global T20 tournament including the 2010 edition where they had emerged victorious. The men in marron defeated Morgan’s army on two occasions in the last edition and England will be eager to take a right forward on the path of settling the score in the very first game. West Indies have as many as six players in the probable first-choice XI who have played in a triumphant T20 tournament and their rich vein of experience will come in handy in pressure situations against an England lineup that are without most of their players who led them to ODI World Cup win in 2019. Similar aggression, but who will come on top? England are the new powerhouse of white-ball Cricket but if there is one team that can be credited with the revolution of six-hitting, the men in marron will take that award hands down without any fight from other sides. The ability to hit the ball over the fence in a nonchalant way comes naturally to them, at least it seems that way and they also have an elite mindset to keep going for it irrespective of match situations. Sometimes, it hurts them and earns them critics, but that has been their model of success in the past. England have had the same mindset as well and in fact, they have gone so far as to adopt the same model in fifty overs cricket as well. So, the encounter will be decided on which bowling attack will be better equipped to hold on to the batsmen from hitting big ones and the nature of the pitch. Team News England England will have a tough call to take with regards to the selection or non-selection of Dawid Malan, the number one batsman on the ICC Rankings. He was off-colour in both the warm-up games and there is enough evidence to suggest that his game is not made for slower pitches. The pitch in Dubai should offer pace but it will not be a belter and hence he can be found out and England can’t choose to overlook the likes of Moeen Ali, who has been marvellous with the bat and economical with the ball on similar surfaces in the IPL 2021. England don’t have mystery spinners and hence their bowling attack is likely to be pace-heavy where one of Chris Woakes and David Willey will be assigned the task of picking wickets with the new ball. The trio of Chris Jordan, Mark Wood and Tymal Mills will form the core of the bowling attack to cover all the bases and phases of the game and Wood, in particular, can also be used as an enforcer right after the powerplay. Probable XI Jason Roy, Jos Buttler (WK), Jonny Bairstow, Moeen Ali, Liam Livingstone, Eoin Morgan (C), Chris Woakes, Chris Jordan, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood, Tymal Mills West Indies There was a lot of hoopla around Chris Gayle’s place in the West Indies playing XI in the world cup, but he's all but certain to start the tournament against England. However, he is unlikely to open the batting and the Windies will bank on the pair of Lendl Simmons and Evin Lewis for a berserk start. The young dynamic duo of Nicholas Pooran and Shimron Hetmyer should constitute the middle order to make the most of the spinners in the middle phase while the old horses in the form of skipper Pollard, Andre Russell and Dwayne Bravo will take the ownership of flourishing finish with the bat. Hayden Walsh Jr had emerged as a potent leg spinner in the home series against South Africa and Australia and he is likely to be the only frontline spinner in the squad. Obed McCoy, who has emerged as one of the best exponents of the variations with the ball in the Windies team is also a certain starter in the bowling department while Oshane Thomas should find himself in the playing XI for bringing a different quality—raw pace to the table. Probable XI Evin Lewis, Lendl Simmons, Chris Gayle, Nicholas Pooran (WK), Shimron Hetmyer, Kieron Pollard, Andre Russell, Dwayne Bravo, Hayden Walsh Jr, Obed McCoy, Oshane Thomas CE Fantasy XI Jason Roy, Nicholas Pooran, Shimron Hetmyer, Liam Livingstone, Moeen Ali, Kieron Pollard, Adil Rashid, Hayden Walsh Jr., Mark Wood Captain Jos Buttler Vice-captain Evin Lewis