Can this team `short of brains` leverage the same desperation to turn the
corner in the longer formats? With three world cup wins back-to-back
– Under-19, Women's T20 and Men's T20 – it seems nature is
conspiring to present the famous Calypso Dance on the cricket field
far more often than seen in the past two decades or so. Cricket
lovers around the world await this turnaround.
You want West Indies to win more often on the cricket
field, simply to watch them celebrate. Their celebration is one of a
kind, unmatched in world cricket. While every team, after a major
win, gathers around one another, jumps on each other and shouts away
to glory, the West Indians bring in a rhythm to the joyous chaos. It
was a sight to see them celebrate both the semi final and final in
the just concluded T20 World Cup in Mumbai and Kolkata respectively.
After the initial disappointment of the Indian team losing in the
semi finals, the country rallied around the West Indians, which
lifted the World Cup for a second time in this format.
India and West Indies share a bond of sorts. If Viv Richards is a hero in India, Gavaskar is worshipped there. The original Little Master handled the feared West Indies pace battery as if he was born to carry out a mission, whereas Richards massacred bowling attacks as if they did not deserve to bowl to him. As kids, we adored Richards and looked up to Gavaskar. We, the gully cricket exponents, tried to bring to our play the audacity of Richards and the technique and resilience of Gavaskar. While Richards feasted on the hapless Indian attack, Gavaskar relished the challenge of standing up to the West Indians as if he was an army general thrown in to battle marauding invaders. If there was one batsman the West Indians hated bowling to, it was Gavaskar, and if there was one batsman Indian bowlers – and others around the world too - feared, it was Richards.
A defining moment in India-West Indies contests - for the most part, at their peak, the West Indies' bowlers ensured no-contests – was Kapil Dev running backwards to catch a Richards pull off Madan Lal in the final of the 1983 World Cup. Viv was in a hurry to take home the cup, but Kapil's extraordinary catch altered the fortunes of Indian cricket itself. Before that catch, Viv was toying with the bowling. An overconfident West Indies however fell prey to a determined India.
The dominant West Indies of the 70s' and 80s' is part of cricketing folklore. Teams would buckle by simply looking at the lineup of batsmen and bowlers. The lineup made up of the likes of Greenidge, Haynes, Richards, Lloyd, Roberts, Marshall, Holding and Garner created a sense of awe within opposition teams. In a talent and skill contest, the West Indians were way ahead. They dictated terms from start to end.
The greatest tragedy for world cricket came from the decline of the West Indies in the '90s. Australia, with its systems orientation and professionalism, took the cricketing world by storm. The West Indies never recovered from the retirement of the greats. Australia though kept bouncing back even when it hit a low. West Indies cricket however kept going from bad to worse. It stopped producing legends barring the iconic Brian Lara, who waged a lonely battle with the bat for his team. In both Test and one day cricket, Australia rose head and shoulders above other teams as a hapless West Indies became a mere shadow of its glorious past. A mix of factors - maybe bad administration, a natural process of degeneration after being at the top, etc – took away the shine from the way West Indies played their cricket.
The T20 World Cup win also comes in the backdrop of conflict between the board and its players. While a world cup win would normally send players and the country into joyous hysteria, the win is more a statement of sorts than merely the best team in the competition winning the cup. There is joy of a different kind which goes beyond mere cricketing achievement – that of having proved a point. There is no doubt West Indies have made the T20 format their own – they simply belong.
For a cricketing connoisseur, the best piece of news would be West Indies improving their performances in the game's 50-over and Test formats too. That will not just do competition a world of good, but it will also revive the joy of watching a spectacle that comes straight form the heart.
India and West Indies share a bond of sorts. If Viv Richards is a hero in India, Gavaskar is worshipped there. The original Little Master handled the feared West Indies pace battery as if he was born to carry out a mission, whereas Richards massacred bowling attacks as if they did not deserve to bowl to him. As kids, we adored Richards and looked up to Gavaskar. We, the gully cricket exponents, tried to bring to our play the audacity of Richards and the technique and resilience of Gavaskar. While Richards feasted on the hapless Indian attack, Gavaskar relished the challenge of standing up to the West Indians as if he was an army general thrown in to battle marauding invaders. If there was one batsman the West Indians hated bowling to, it was Gavaskar, and if there was one batsman Indian bowlers – and others around the world too - feared, it was Richards.
A defining moment in India-West Indies contests - for the most part, at their peak, the West Indies' bowlers ensured no-contests – was Kapil Dev running backwards to catch a Richards pull off Madan Lal in the final of the 1983 World Cup. Viv was in a hurry to take home the cup, but Kapil's extraordinary catch altered the fortunes of Indian cricket itself. Before that catch, Viv was toying with the bowling. An overconfident West Indies however fell prey to a determined India.
The dominant West Indies of the 70s' and 80s' is part of cricketing folklore. Teams would buckle by simply looking at the lineup of batsmen and bowlers. The lineup made up of the likes of Greenidge, Haynes, Richards, Lloyd, Roberts, Marshall, Holding and Garner created a sense of awe within opposition teams. In a talent and skill contest, the West Indians were way ahead. They dictated terms from start to end.
The greatest tragedy for world cricket came from the decline of the West Indies in the '90s. Australia, with its systems orientation and professionalism, took the cricketing world by storm. The West Indies never recovered from the retirement of the greats. Australia though kept bouncing back even when it hit a low. West Indies cricket however kept going from bad to worse. It stopped producing legends barring the iconic Brian Lara, who waged a lonely battle with the bat for his team. In both Test and one day cricket, Australia rose head and shoulders above other teams as a hapless West Indies became a mere shadow of its glorious past. A mix of factors - maybe bad administration, a natural process of degeneration after being at the top, etc – took away the shine from the way West Indies played their cricket.
The T20 World Cup win also comes in the backdrop of conflict between the board and its players. While a world cup win would normally send players and the country into joyous hysteria, the win is more a statement of sorts than merely the best team in the competition winning the cup. There is joy of a different kind which goes beyond mere cricketing achievement – that of having proved a point. There is no doubt West Indies have made the T20 format their own – they simply belong.
For a cricketing connoisseur, the best piece of news would be West Indies improving their performances in the game's 50-over and Test formats too. That will not just do competition a world of good, but it will also revive the joy of watching a spectacle that comes straight form the heart.
The great West Indies tradition has been about playing
the sport with passion. At their peak, opposition teams tore their
hair off in exasperation, just as the England team may now be doing
after the Brathwaite spectacle in the last over in the final of the
2016 T20 World Cup. The four sixes reflected the vengeance with which
they approached the tournament. They were desperate to win this one.
Just as in the Socrates story, with 19 runs required from 6
deliveries, Brathwaite, finding the team under water at the start of
the over, simply wanted the team to breathe – and the only way to
do that was by winning.
Can this team `short of brains` leverage the same
desperation to turn the corner in the longer formats? With three
world cup wins back-to-back – Under-19, Women's T20 and Men's T20 –
it seems nature is conspiring to present the famous Calypso Dance on
the cricket field far more often than seen in the past two decades or
so. Cricket lovers around the world await this turnaround.
