Its been a tough time for the West Indies Cricket from the past few years because of their repeated poor performances. England vs West indies 2020.
The Windies cricket which we used to applaud a few decades back for their amazing performances is no more worth it. The charm is completely lost.
The team a few decades back comprising of deadly, accurate, and intelligent fast bowlers as well as talented batsmen and prolific run-getters like Brian Lara, Shivnarine Chandrapaul, and Ramnaresh Sarvan had a positive intent towards the game and hence were considered as the most dominant team in the world.
But gradually with years the downfall of West Indies cricket started and now in the current era, it considered as one of the average teams in the cricket fraternity.
With the failure from the last few years, a new one added to it when West Indies toured to England and lost the test series by 2-1.
Though the performance of the Windies in the 1st Test was quite remarkable eventually they got back to their poor cricket in the 2nd and 3rd Test due to lack of determination and fear psychosis of most of the cricketers.
Here are the few reasons why the West Indies lost to England in the Wisden Cup 2020. (England vs West Indies 2020)
Poor Selection
The selection committee is equally responsible for the win or loss of a team.
The committee has been given this responsibility to pick the best of many so that a productive team can be gathered for the country.
But the West Indies board completely fails in it.
It’s not the first time that the Windies failed to come up with a perfect team.
This has been seen a number of times from the past few years when the Windies comes up with thrash rather than opting for gems.
Even after JohnCampbell and Shai Hope failed miserably in the first two tests, giving them the opportunity in the decider test shows the poor selection of West Indies Cricket Team.
Change in Game Style
For decades, West Indies believes in playing positive and attacking cricket irrespective of any format.
Starting from Sir Viv Richards to Brian Lara, each of them had a fiery attacking style of batting.
It becomes difficult for any cricketer to put runs on the board when he/she is asked to change their game style.
And the Windies experienced the same thing when the top order tried to change their game style from attacking to defending.
No doubt test cricket is all about patience and standing on the crease for longer hours but its never mentioned in any book of cricket to stop the scoreboard and stand there like a dummy.
Top order collapse
In the of scoring runs, each team relies on its top order.
A good start by the top order would lead the team to put a respectable score on the board.
Kraigg Brathwaite, John Campbell, and Shai Hope being talented cricketers have the potential to give a good start to the team and elevate the scoreboard.
But talent all alone can’t let you become one of the finest openers of all time unless hard work and determination are poured in and that’s where these youngsters lacked behind.
Involvement in-game is one of the core fundamentals in cricket but the Windies always lacked in it.
And that’s the reason why it becomes difficult for them to put runs on the scoreboard.
Poor Leadership
A leader is the one who takes the responsibility to get the best out of the players.
Leaders’ attitude and thinking towards the game express his involvement in the game and his approach to winning the game.
Jason Holder is the leader of the best cricketing format (TEST CRICKET) for Windies should have a positive approach towards the game which would motivate the others in to give their best.
This casual behavior of the skipper became a major reason for the loss.
Fear Psychosis
Fear Psychosis is also one of the major factors due to which the West Indies team lost the series.
Being a sportsperson, its very necessary to be in a good mental state and to have a complete focus on the game.
From the entire test, if we look after the performance of Shane Dowrich, he was completely disturbed and was having fear of short bouncers of the seam bowlers.
He was facing difficulties in connecting the ball with the bat.
Though he is a good batsman his fear for bouncers made his performance miserable.
It’s not at all appreciated if you aren’t able to play the seamers at this stage of cricket.
Shane Dowrich was also questioned for his poor skills behind the stumps.
Even after such poor performances in both the test, the selection committee didn’t take any action against him and this is something which is needed to be questioned.
Joshua Da Silva who joined the team in the second half as a substitute for Shane Dowrich because of his injury performed quite well and was praised for his amazing wicket-keeping skills.
Windies had a better choice with them but they didn’t pick it and this led them to pay a big loss.
Drop of Joseph and selecting Cornwall in the Final Test
West Indies lost the series before the third test when they decided to drop Alzarri Joseph and pick Rahkeem Cornwall in the playing XI.
It’s not at all wise to drop the best seam bowler of the team and replace him with an unfit off-break bowler.
English conditions are always best for seam bowlers rather than spinners, so there was no point in dropping the finest bowler of the team.
Being layman if we could analyze it then how couldn’t the experienced veteran cricketers in the election committee were unable to point it out.
No positive approach
A positive approach of the team helps them stay motivated and active in the game.
In the entire series except few players of Windies, everyone seemed to be casual and not at all positive for winning the game.
A skipper is someone who holds the responsibility of keeping the entire team energetic and involved in the game.
But such energy and positive attitude were never seen by Jason Holder on the field.
Rotation in Batting Order
Rotation in batting order is quite necessary looking at the situation of the game.
A particular line up of batting wont be effective everytime in all the situations of the game.
The batting line up rotation is totally dependent on the skipper, he is the one who needs to study the situation of the game and further manage the bating order accordingly.
But in the entire series, we didn’t see any such movements by the skipper (Jason Holder) during the crucial situations of the game. (England vs West Indies 2020)
CONCLUSION
West Indies Cricket has a talented team with them, the only factor they need to focus on is the proper way to utilize the talent.
A great team is built when you give chances to the new talents and push them to give their heart and soul on the field.
We hope to see the previous “Furious West Indies team” back in the next coming years.
