WI in the World of T20 Cricket: Frog in a Slippery Well?

WI just now played a T20 series against World Cup finalists SA and thrashed them 3-0. The last game, in which the Windies chased down 116 in just 9.2 overs, summed up their overwhelming dominance perfectly. One more jaw-dropping knock from the great Nicholas Pooran who hit 35 off 13 balls with a SR of 269 ensured the SA bowlers didn't have to stay longer in the field to endure the misery at his hands. Shimron Hetmyer and Shai Hope were not far behind with knocks of 31 off 17 balls (SR of 182) and 42 off 24 Balls (SR 175) respectively. Chase deservingly won the Man Of the Series Award for his consistent showing in the 3 match series. But, in terms of pure impact and X factor, no one could ignore Pooran's bludgeoning knocks with monstrous strike rates. 65 off 26 balls (SR of 250) in the first game followed by yesterday's fireworks in the final game clearly makes the Trinidadian, with a physical frame that belies his destructive hitting ability, the biggest nightmare for any bowling attack in T20 Cricket today. 

The WI team played brilliantly throughout the T20 series and deserves all the Kudos for a comprehensive series win against a formidable SA side. That leads us to the most logical question, "Is this the beginning of the revival of the WI team in T20 format?" It's a tough question to answer. Those of us who have been invested in WI's team's T20 journey for long enough, are aware that post the 2016 WC glory, the team has been a bit like the frog from our childhood School Maths question papers, who, in its pursuit of getting out of a well, manages to climb up one foot while slipping down by a couple of feet after every jump. WI manages to flatter to deceive with every attempt at its Cricketing revival just like the frog from the maths question paper. The team manages to create a euphoria of hope in its fans by notching up a win here before drowning them with a tsunami of despondency and despair by losing to average sides and failing to qualify or getting knocked out at the early stages of ICC tournaments. The lack of consistency is frustrating, to say the least. The talent, bench strength, ability, experience of playing in the best franchise leagues and confidence from the glorious achievements from the comparatively recent past tell you that they should be at the pinnacle of T20 Cricket. Imagine a team with a lineup that includes Hope, Pooran, Hetmyer, Romario Shepherd, Rovman Powell, and Akiel Hossain.

Now add to it Alzarri Joseph, a certain Andrew Russel and stubbornly reluctant (to pay for WI team) Sunil Narine and you have no reason to believe this WI team can't win a big tournament. But then the fact remains that the same team, with more or less the same bunch of superstars, couldn't reach the Knock Out stage of a T20 WC barely two months back held at home. Its devastatingly painful for their most colourful,  passionate and endearing fans as well as millions of neutral cricket lovers who would just love to see WI at the top. For a fan, to see the energy, enthusiasm, motivation, self-belief and most importantly the soul missing from the WI team while playing in national colours is heartwrenching. Today, the debate is not about whether this WI team, with such a rich abundance of talent at their disposal, can win an International T20 Series and ICC trophy.

It's about whether a bunch of global superstars hailing from different sovereign nations, earning millions of dollars from multiple franchise T20 leagues, still hold the same hunger, determination, pride and nationalistic fervour to ruthlessly pursue glory for a unified WI team just like their invincible predecessors from the 1970s and 80s did. Now that's a million-dollar question that can only be answered by the 11 millionaire cricketers every time they step into the field wearing the Maroon caps. All we can do is to hope for an affirmative answer from them every time they step into the field.

By- Ambika Prasad Mahapatra