2 min read
Introduction
If the 15 men selected to play for West Indies live up to their potential, it’ll be one of the strongest teams out there. The squad is filled with players who are known for their exploits and players who come on the back of strings of exciting performances in ODI cricket. It’s just a matter of clicking as a team.
Mihir’s SWOT Analysis
strengths
- There was a time recently when the phrase “fast bowlers to look out for” wasn’t associated with West Indies. However, the produce they bring with hem for this tournament isn’t just impressive; it’s worthy, challenging and certainly one to look out for.
- Lot of players know their roles within the team and the expectations from them. This is always a good sign as it reduces some pressure from the captain and allows him to focus on his cricketing skills.
- Impressive form of majority of key players.
weaknesses
- Baring 5 ODIs against England, the ODI team hasn’t really had good amount of match practice against stronger teams. This could work against them, especially given the format of the tournament.
opportunities
- I personally would like to see the same team that’s being selected, which means that the no Pollard or Bravo or Narine agrees with me. With complacency out of the picture and the good form of a lot of key players, West Indies have a good opportunity here to turn things around for themselves for good and at such a global stage.
threats
- Treating ODIs like a T20 game. While several players, the key ones, have graduated from the Tests school, some have come up from T20 ranks. Getting all out for 200-odd in 20-odd overs wouldn’t really help their case here.
key player
Shai Hope –> If Chris Gayle and Evin Lewis are to open for West Indies, the role of this man becomes all the more important. It becomes an automatic requirement for him to be adaptive to the situation as he could be walking in at 150 in 15 overs or 0 in 0.2 overs. If that isn’t it, his impressive form only raises expectations from him, more so given his solid technique which could be useful against the swinging ball.
prediction
For me, West Indies are the dark horse of the tournament who have more than a chance of making it to the semi-finals with a series of good performances.
Roster
Schedule
You will definitely want to give these a try
-
ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 - EnglandThe 12th ICC Cricket World Cup is here and it is the 5th time it is being held in England. Despite arguments that the new format is commercial in nature and doesn’t make the World Cup seem like a “Cup of World Teams”, I’d say that the single round-robin format promises to make the World Cup even more exciting.
-
Afghanistan - Cricket World Cup 2019At the face of it, Afghanistan seems like a well-balanced team integrated by the isolated strengths in the various departments. To further elaborate that, take for example Rashid Khan and Mujeeb ur Rahman; both excellent spinners on their own but in tandem, one doesn’t get a feeling of say Trent Boult and Tim Southee or Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal. As Afghanistan gears up to play the big boys of cricket, it will be far-fetched to expect them to do…
-
Australia - Cricket World Cup 2019I for one have been surprised bye Australia’s resurgence in recent ODIs, opponents notwithstanding. I won’t lie, I was expecting a prolonged psychological dent into the Australian outfit with a slow resurgence but this has taken me by surprise. This has forced me to re-evaluate my stance on Australia for this World Cup.
-
Bangladesh - Cricket World Cup 2019Bangladesh have what many teams look for prior to a World Cup - stability in the playing XI composition. With all their stalwarts available, possibly for the last time in a World Cup, they have gone as far as to say that they are here to win the World Cup in 2019. I’ll surely be surprised if they do.
-
England - Cricket World Cup 2019Well, wouldn’t you like to be Eoin Morgan! A well-settled opening pair, a solid middle-order, an array of quality All Rounders, arguably the best ODI spinner in the world currently and more than handy crop of fast bowlers. The cherry on this cake - World Cup is in your backyard. The chocolate sauce on that cherry - the format calls for consistency, eliminates “flash-in-the-pan” advantage and allows for minor lapses.
-
India - Cricket World Cup 2019It was way back in the 1987 World Cup that India had the luxury of playing 2 quality of seam-bowling all-rounders. And 32 years on, they have the same luxury once again. In no way am I saying that Hardik Pandya and Vijay Shankar are the same as Kapil Dev and Roger Binny ( they can’t be as well; not yet.) Another interesting trivia is that the last time India went with 2 seam bowling all-rounders to England for a…
-
NewZealand - Cricket World Cup 2019NewZealand, as a team, always fly under the radar, coming into every world tournament. I don’t know if they actively do that or it just happens to them. Any way, those who can see it will surely say that NewZealand is a string team and they have managed to pick a team which will be able to cause some jitters to a lot of predictions.
-
Pakistan - Cricket World Cup 2019If you look at Pakistan’s 15-man squad, you can easily determine that Pakistan has as many as 5 allrounders but lack someone you’d call a “genuine all-rounder”. It isn’t a problem if the lower middle-order batsman and bowlers compensate for that void but even that doesn’t seem to be the case for Pakistan. Such is the dynamics associated with their squad.
-
South Africa - Cricket World Cup 2019I promise I’ll be one of the few people who won’t call call this team “chokers”. South Africa’s bowling lineup is impeccable and its batting shows a lot of promise. An array of quality all-rounders also helps its case.
-
Srilanka - Cricket World Cup 2019Srilanka is anything but in contention for a top 4 spot in this World Cup, and their squad doesn’t paint a happy picture, at least not on paper. Not being a critic here but just giving my honest analysis.
