CHENNAI: Chris Gayle, Darren Bravo, Evin Lewis, Shai Hope, Shimron Hetmyer, Nicholas Pooran, Jason Holder, Carlos Brathwaite, Kieron Pollard, Dwayne Bravo, Andre Russell, Oshane Thomas, Alzarri Joseph, Kemar Roach, Sheldon Cottrell, Sunil Narine, Devendra Bishoo. Heck, they have so many names that even a World Cup Dream 15 ends up becoming a 17-man squad. And for all the talk about Indian Premier League (IPL) not being a dress rehearsal for India’s aspirants for England, the men from the Caribbean seem to be doing exactly that. So much so that we might as well start calling it the West Indies Premier League.
Russell has being going “Hulk, smash” every time a team sniffs a win against Kolkata Knight Riders. Narine hasn’t really killed it with the ball for them, so he’s doing that with his bat. Gayle is just being his usual Universe Boss self for Kings XI Punjab. Joseph took just a couple of hours during his Mumbai Indians debut to rewrite a 11-season record. And now, Pollard has started pulling out the proverbial rabbit from the hat.
And the timing couldn’t have been better, courtesy Dave Cameron’s exit from Cricket West Indies (CWI) last month. With Ricky Skerritt finally ending the six-year reign of the chairman who had been at constant loggerheads with the white-ball veterans of the nation, the door now seems to be ajar for the homecoming of the once-labelled “mercenaries”.
Even Pollard, surely buoyed by his highest IPL score that helped Mumbai pull the rug from under Punjab’s feet on Wednesday night, seemed to be optimistic in this regard.“Yeah, of course you can say that. We have a new chairman of selectors There’s a new president of the cricket board. And, as I said, you take it as it comes. Last year, you might not have been asking me that question.
“I am a cricketer. I am 31 and have a lot of cricket left in me. Gayle is still playing, he’s 39, and he’s whacking it all around. I had people close to me backing me. Last year is gone. When you are losing, people have opinions. I am enjoying my cricket once again. There has been a lot of turmoil in West Indies cricket over the last couple of years. We have seen in the last couple of weeks that there’s change.”
And there has been change in West Indies, one that has been happening since the start of 2019. In January, a raw, inexperienced side under Holder had pulled off an improbable Test series win against England. But many marked it down to young blood trumping Joe Root’s ageing, battle-worn five-day veterans.But the five ODIs that followed saw that with an injection of experience, this current West Indies line-up can go toe-to-toe with the best 50-over side in the world. The series may have ended 2-2, but England almost lost a match despite posting 418/6, and were also handed their worst defeat in terms of balls to spare.
All this happened with just Gayle returning to their line-up. Throw the likes of Russell, Dwayne and Pollard into their mix and the probable West Indies XI for England seems a far cry from their usual doormat stereotype.Even Pollard seems to feel the same. “We know what we can do. I think Chris batted superbly. A fellow West Indian, Russell, he’s smacking the ball. It’s great to see the way he’s hitting it, and Narine as well. These guys are having a good tournament. When your mind is free, you just go out and enjoy cricket.”
Reifer is new WI coach
Cricket West Indies on Thursday appointed Floyd Reifer as the interim coach till the end of 2019. Robert Haynes has been appointed as the chairman of selection panel.