CHENNAI: Sometime on Monday afternoon, a small video tweeted by Brian Lara started trending. Showing the West Indies players shaking hands with Indians after Sunday’s T20I in Thiruvananthapuram, it had a message, saying: “This is a pretty strong West Indies T20 team. Good comeback victory after the disappointment of the first game.”
Few would doubt that statement, going by their performance at the Greenfield International Stadium. Knocking down 170 with nine balls and eight wickets to spare took some doing and oozed a lot of bravado. Batsmen down on one knee and hoisting the ball over long-on, smacking drives through the off or the plain and simple baseball heave — it was a display of skill and spunk.
While the world had seen glimpses of these, timing of this performance and the role it may be playing behind it makes the Sunday show stand out. Winners of two T20 World Cups, the West Indies hit a low even by their standards in other formats since the start of last year. In 24 matches before the India series, their win-loss record was 5-18. They lost to Afghanistan in this format just before taking on Virat Kohli’s team.
A popular explanation doing the rounds is, the IPL auction slated for December 19 is working as a big incentive for the West Indies players. It may or may not find immediate endorsement, but it is not illogical. Known to give their best only when the pay is high in franchise-based T20 leagues, the Caribbeans are sought-after players. Many IPL teams have reserved a chunk of their budget to secure a Gayle, Pollard or Narine.
And chances are high after two strong shows with the bat that they will again attract big prices when the auctioneer starts the action in Kolkata. “No doubt that they will be in demand. They have power-hitters from the top to No 6 or 7, which means that many players are ideal for this format. And we won’t be surprised to know that they are extra motivated now, given that the auction is coming up,” said an IPL franchise official, who will be present at the auction.
Be that the reason or something else, this West Indies have been different from the lot that was losing everything before this series. This change is most visible in batting, where they lost despite topping 200 in the first match. Along with usual suspects Kieron Pollard, Shimron Hetmyer, Evin Lewis, Nicholas Pooran and Lendl Simmons, newcomer Brandon King and even Jason Holder have made useful runs in daredevil fashion.
"Quite a few of them are already with different IPL teams. The likes of Hetmyer (released by Royal Challengers Bangalore), Lewis and King will be on the radar of the franchises. We do keep track of how they have done in the other leagues. At the same time, performance against India in India will matter. The only concern is they are a bit up and down in terms of consistency. But that’s a risk some IPL teams find worth taking," added the franchise official, who didn’t wish to be identified.
As the T20 series-decider comes up in Mumbai on Wednesday, it’s natural to think that winning it will be the biggest motivation for Pollard’s men. Don’t be surprised if they belt out another sterling show, with something else working as inspiration.