India emerged victorious in the 2024 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, in a thrilling and dramatic tournament.
Despite South Africa putting up a tough fight and nearly securing the title, India’s resilience allowed them to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat, leaving South Africa to ponder what could have been as they missed their chance to clinch their first championship title.
The tournament, co-hosted by the USA and West Indies, offered a captivating global sports entertainment package, featuring thrilling matches, unexpected twists, and some agonising defeats.
However, the Windies’ quest for victory on home soil, to add to their collection of ICC T20 World Cup Championship titles (2012 and 2016), did not come to fruition as the regional team narrowly lost to South Africa in a crucial Super 8 match in Antigua.
Nonetheless, the Caribbean fans witnessed glimpses of a resurgent Windies team, evident in their four wins from six matches, showcasing their determination. However, their performance waned towards the end when it mattered most.
To notch up scores of 0,1,0,1 among the top four batters in the Windies top six batting line-up was nothing but woeful.
Setting South Africa, a revised target (123 off 17 overs) after the Windies posted a score of 135/8 was mostly due to the heroics of Roston Chase aided by Kyle Mayers. While a brief flurry towards the end from Andre Russel was cut down via the run out route, to further dent Windies progress to a more challenging score.
And while the chase proved quite challenging, yet in the end the South African lower order breathed in deeply and exhaled with force to hit (124/7 off 16.1 overs) and dash away the Windies and their hopes, and the hopes of the Caribbean fans, as well.
In the aftermath, the reviews stormed in, and cricket pundits and former professional cricketers all chimed in with their take on the Windies game plan and eventual execution.
The former Windies dynamic batter Chris Gayle aka the ‘World Boss’ was emphatic with his comments, stating frankly that he felt the team selection was miscued.
Gayle reckoned with the formidable experience of players like Andre Russel and Johnson “Johno” Charles in the ranks, the Windies should have fared better. And to omit Charles from the final XI in that crucial Super 8 encounter versus South Africa was a poor choice.
Charles had performed favourably in the competition despite calls ‘to axe him’ from the team, coming from outside circles. With at least three scores hovering over 30 runs (T20 avg. standard equivalent to an ODI half-century – 50) ‘Johno’ began showing the maturity needed to give the top order a fillip, in the company of Brandon King, before King’s departure due to injury, and he held steady with Shai Hope.
From the commentators’ standpoint, former West Indies player and ardent cricket analyst Ian Bishop had lamented the woes of the Windies-foremost the accumulation of ‘dot balls’ and hoarding over 50 dot balls in an innings of 120 balls was unacceptable. In the end, that persistent blemish would haunt the Windies and catapult their demise.
After a compelling Super 8 game at the Daren Sammy Cricket Ground [DSCG], which resulted in India defeating arch-rivals Australia, a roving Indian cricket journalist Nimish Patgaonkar spoke candidly to Voice Sports about the Windies performance and the ‘nitty gritty’ that needs to be cemented into building a formidable Windies squad.
With over a decade of experience, Patgaonkar has provided cricket coverage across the globe, specializing in ICC tournaments and bilateral series.
“Coming to the West Indies is always a pleasure,” he declared. But with limited flights available, the journey can be sometimes tedious, having to travel through the islands, and with the US co-hosting the event, he also has to travel that route.
Commenting on the current status of West Indies cricket: Growing up, Nimish recalls, the West Indies were formidable opponents, and it was always a daunting challenge with India having to face them. He reminisces on the joys of listening to cricket on the radio as a boy, and fond memories of West Indies star players, such as Michael Holding, Joel Garner, Andy Roberts, Malcolm Marshall, and other explosive West Indian seam bowlers, alongside the likes of Indian greats Sunil Gavaskar, Vishwanath, Vengsarkar, and others.
He mused humorously that it was quite a relief to have the spin of Larry Gomes to complement the fiery Windies bowling attack at some stage in the innings. “We still have respect for all greats from the West Indies, and we just wish (as Indians) that West Indian cricket should again get back to the glory (days) that they had up until the 90s when they ruled the World,” said Patgaonkar.
More recently, he cited the record-breaking batting exploits of Brian Lara and then the Daren Sammy-led team claiming two ICC T20 championship titles as mighty conquests for the Windies.
“The legacy has to be continued, and West Indian cricket should evolve along three or four greats in the team, (be it with two batters and two bowlers) …and the rest (team) should look onward to them,” Nimish stressed.
“Something needs to be done at the Grassroots level in West Indies cricket …you need sustainable reform and a set of players who can take West Indies cricket to new heights,” he added.
He noted that for the World Cup, one witnessed a Windies team with “tremendous potential,” but “potential is one part, and the second thing is your natural (physical ability) to bowl fast or to hit harder” exudes much tougher skills as compared to the Indian players, or even the Australian and English players.
“You need to capitalize (on) that energy so that you would ensure that we see another West Indian champion,” Nimish said, referring to West Indies having won two ICC ODI and two ICC T20 World Cup championship titles, respectively.
Patgaonkar cited Windies’ current players, such as top-order batters Sherfane Rutherford, Shai Hope, Nicholas Pooran, and bowlers like Akeal Hosein as a ‘sensation’.
“So, you need to get these players to play a little more (outside of the Franchise series) …to play bilateral series, test matches, and ODIs,” he said. “That will improve the standard of the team as a whole …to raise the West Indies standard to a new height. I feel that as a team, they should start focusing more on the longer version, as well as, One Day cricket and T20I, so that would give them cohesiveness as a team.”
Notwithstanding the lure of money with lucrative payouts in Franchise cricket, Nimish feels there is still a sense of “pride” in each player that represents the West Indies.
“So, that has to come as one unit …and (this) can only happen once you play in the longer version, as well as the shorter version,” he asserted.