DUBAI: There is a nice little cafe at the entrance of the ICC Academy in Dubai, which is a walking distance from the global cricketing body's headquarters. It was the most usual place to spot international cricketers going in and out of the designated training facility for the ongoing T20 World Cup.
While her team was practicing at the nets alongside India, Stephanie Taylor was patiently waiting for her order at the cafe. With her left knee all strapped in, it was evident that she wanted her order to be delivered in a hurry. Somehow, one of the producers with the broadcasters, who had a field of play accreditation around her neck, found the courage to shake hands with the West Indian legend.
"Go well in the tournament, Stephanie," she said. "Thank you so much," the ever-humble Taylor replied. "Maybe the repeat of 2016 is on the cards?," was the next question from the youngster and Taylor with a broad smile on her face said, "Why not?" (Taylor-led West Indies defeated Australia in 2016, to win the T20 World Cup at the Eden Gardens).
On October 15, at the Dubai International Stadium, when the team she saw grow up in front of her eyes was bossing the game against the tournament favourites, England, Taylor was nowhere to be seen. She was not in the middle of the action having already been ruled out of the encounter due to her knee. She was not even in the dugout adjacent to the boundary.
Taylor was sitting on a chair on the way to the dressing room, living and breathing every moment of the game; cheering on every little good thing West Indies did on the field and showing her visible frustration at things that went wrong.
At one point in West Indies' chase, she even begged wicketkeeper Shemaine Campbelle, who was waiting to go in next if the wicket were to fall, to sit next to her. Her knee was not helping at all and she was hobbling, but it felt like with every shot Quiana Joseph and Hayley Matthews were hitting, Taylor's pain was withering away.
The moment Aaliyah Alleyne hit the boundary to confirm West Indies' entry to the semifinal, Taylor just ran towards the field with all of her might, hugging anyone and everyone she saw en route. Despite not being in the middle, this is the house Taylor has built over the years. Granted its keys were handed to Matthews once West Indies made the semi-final exit in the 2022 ODI World Cup in New Zealand, but it's still "Steph's house."
"I've known Hayley for quite some time, probably about 10 or 13 years. To see growth in her game has been really good. She will tell you that, probably I'm always behind her," Taylor had said at the Basin Reserve press hall at Wellington.
Despite the exit, Taylor was confident that she had left her legacy in good hands. One has to understand that those were the big shoes to fill and Matthews did struggle in the T20 World Cup in South Africa where West Indies could not make it to the semifinal. With a cluster of retirements and misunderstandings between players and Cricket West Indies, the glory of West Indies lifting the trophy at the Eden Gardens felt like a spectacle of another lifetime.
However, Taylor was still there. Struggling much more than she would have liked, but she was present without coming in the way of how Matthews wanted to lead her team. Eventually, it all came down to a few moments at Dubai International Stadium where Taylor had no control over the proceedings. She cheered. She suffered. She felt every feeling in the book tonight.
In front of her eyes, Taylor saw the house she built get even stronger and defy all the pre-tournament predictions. "I know she's definitely shed a few tears over the last few days because she wants to be out there and she wants to be a part of the team and she wants to be playing. So, I think a lot of our win today was for her and to show her that we got your back and we're going to go out there and do this. It has been great, man," Matthews told the press room trying to hide her emotions when asked about how the journey has been since that interaction in Wellington.
"She was one of my role models growing up. And then I came into the team and she was captain from my second year and I've been able to learn so much from her over the years. A lot of my leadership and the way I tried to go about it was so much that I was able to learn from Steph. I think particularly on the field she was always able to lead from the front. I remember days of playing for the West Indies and there were so many times where only Steph would be able to score runs and single-handedly win us games. That's definitely one thing I tried to take from her, being the responsible one at the top. I know for sure she's seen me grow but she's also seen the entire team grow," Matthews poured her heart out paying a tribute to her OG captain.
Come Friday, West Indies will face New Zealand in the semi-final of the T20 World Cup in Sharjah. Just like what happened in 2016 when they faced Kiwis in the semi final at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. Maybe what the broadcast producer asked Taylor that day at the ICC Academy cafe was not far-fetched. Because to everyone who doubted the West Indies so far, they have come up with a simple answer in a question format: 'Why not?'