DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (CMC) —Former West Indies leg-spinner Samuel Badree said the presence of more than one spinner in many of the teams for the International Cricket Council (ICC) Men's Twenty20 (T20) World Cup was not surprising.
But Badree was concerned that defending champions West Indies did not have a highly rated spinner in their squad and felt this could hurt their chances of winning a third T20 World title.
Writing in a promotional column for the ICC, the sport's world governing body, on the eve of the T20 World Cup, Badree surmised spin bowling plays a major role in this format of the game.
He said he expected to see this play out during the global showpiece starting today in the United Arab Emirates and Oman.
“Most of the teams have quality spinners in their ranks – at least two of them – because of the conditions teams predict that they will face,” he said. “They [the spinners] can all win games single-handedly.
West Indies fast bowler Ravi Rampaul is confident the experience of senior members of the team will be crucial in its effort to retain the ICC World Cup.
The 37-year old’s call up to the squad has been among the most controversial made by the Caribbean team, with some fans insisting the West Indies should have focused on selecting younger talent. Rampaul’s effective showing the Caribbean Premier League (CPL), however, convinced selectors that he could be an asset for a team looking to successfully defend its title.
“In every team, you want to play for, you have to put a performance out there and I know I needed to work hard and show the selectors I could still take wickets and compete at a level. I needed to put the performance out there and show them I could take wickets at the CPL stage,” Rampaul told members of the media on Saturday.
West Indies captain Kieron Pollard insists the team is backing talismanic batsman Chris Gayle to do well at the T20 World Cup despite not heading into the event in the best of form.
Heading into the tournament, the swashbuckling left-hander is 97 runs away from scoring the most runs in T20 World Cup history. Based on the player's most recent run of form, however, there is no guarantee of him getting there. In the 16 games, the player has only managed 227 runs at an average of 17.46.
“Again, no words to describe what he has done for us in World Cups, in the T20 World Cups, and T20 cricket around the world as an individual," Pollard said during an interview with team captains' on Saturday in Dubai.
Marlon Samuels was an instrumental player in the West Indies ICC T20 World Cup triumphs in 2012 and 2016. In 2012, Samuels scored a 56-ball 78 that proved to be the foundation for the West Indies 137 for 6 that was good enough to defeat Sri Lanka by 36 runs.
Then in 2016, the outspoken Jamaican scored an unbeaten 85 from 66 balls to help the West Indies pull off a remarkable victory chasing down England’s 155 for 9.
Samuels has since retired, but the West Indies might already have a replacement in their camp in the form of Roston Chase.
The lanky Barbadian believes he is the man to take over that very important role as the West Indies go in search of a third consecutive title.
“I played for the St Lucia franchise for the past two years where I come in mostly after the Powerplay and knock it around and pick up the ones and twos and the occasional boundary when the ball is in my area to score so it’s an easy role for me.
West Indies T20 vice-captain Nicholas Pooran has heaped praises on under pressure batsman Chris Gayle, insisting the veteran remains a valuable part of the team ahead of its attempted World Cup title defense.
The 42-year-old Gayle has found himself in the crosshairs of critics in recent months, with many insisting the player should have been overlooked in favour of younger talent. The batsman'ss recent form will not have helped matters. In the last year, Gayle has played a total of 16 matches, scored a total of 227 runs with an average of 17.46 and strike rate of 117.61, well down from his career average of 139.18.
“As much as everyone has questioned it, 14,000 runs doesn’t come about just like that. Not many people know how to win T20 matches and T20 leagues and that sort of experience is invaluable,” Pooran told members of the media on Wednesday.
