Armed with an explosive set of batsmen and athletic all-rounders who are the toast of various T20 leagues across the world, the West Indies will fancy their chances of regaining the World T20 trophy despite arriving amidst the usual bedlam.
Until mid-February there was no gurantee on what sort of a squad the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) would send to the marquee event as a host of first string players refused to sign their contracts.
Following a week of bitter exchanges between the two sides, most of the ‘A’ listers barring Darren Bravo agreed to sign the contract, delighting the fans. How the rival bowlers must be feeling is open to imagination.
Just take a look at the Windies batting might. Starting from the bat-for-hire Chris Gayle, silent assassin Marlon Samuels, impact all-rounders Dwayne Bravo and Andre Russell and the dangerous Darren Sammy, the Windies have some serious fence clearers in their ranks.
While they’ve not played much cricket as a unit, thanks to the constant run-ins with the board, they keep themselves ready for most of the season by competing in various T20 leagues across the globe. Players like Gayle, Bravo and Russell play pivotal roles in their respective teams in the Indian Premier League. Throw in Carlos Brathwaite and wicketkeeper Denesh Ramdin, the Windies appear a potent lot.
Gayle, despite being in the twilight of his international career, comes into the tournament on the back of a sizzling outing for Melbourne Renegades in the Big Bash League where he smashed a 12-ball half-century -- equalling the all-time fastest T20 fifty set by Yuvraj Singh in 2007.
The Windies also boast of a reasonable bowling line-up despite the absence of Keiron Pollard and Sunil Narine. Brathwaite, Bravo, Russell, Jason Holder and Jerome Taylor have the skill to hold their end despite pitches in India being tailor-made for batting.
Coming into a major competition on the back of a bitter wrangle is not the best preparation. But if there is one team that can put that aside and set an event alight, it has to be the Caribbeans.
