T20 World Cup 2022: "It's really so bad for their cricket" - Ricky Ponting on West Indies' early elimination

Former Australian captain Ricky Ponting has labeled West Indies' early exit from the ongoing T20 World Cup a 'disgrace'. Ponting questioned the players' commitment to ICC events despite having ample talent in the squad.

West Indies lost their first game of the preliminary round to Scotland but beat Zimbabwe to keep their Super 12 qualification hopes alive. However, Ireland eliminated the two-time champions, defeating them by nine wickets in Hobart as Paul Stirling scored a blazing 66 to chase down 147.

Ahead of the first game of the Super 12 stage, Ponting underlined that these losses are bad for West Indies cricket and that it's shocking to see them not even reaching the Super 12 stage. As quoted by Perth Now, the Tasmanian said:

"It's a disgrace as far as I'm concerned. It's really so bad for their cricket. They've got too much talent in that team and in West Indies cricket not to be able to make it through to the next stage of the World Cup. To me that sort of sums up probably how little these events mean to the West Indies players. If you look at the way that they played, you'd say the same thing."

Cricket West Indies (CWI) president Ricky Skerritt issued a strong message following their disappointing performance and vowed to carry out a thorough post-mortem. Ponting echoed the sentiment, stating:

"It's easy for me to say here and say that it's a disgrace that they haven't made it, but that they'll be hurting as much as anybody. They would have had big thoughts and dreams coming here and they haven't played anywhere near well enough to even progress. No doubt there'll be some soul-searching done when they get back."

Skipper Nicholas Pooran was in woeful form with the bat, managing only 25 runs in three matches at 8.33. The preceding T20 series against Australia saw him manage only four runs in two innings.

"They're going to have to find a few lengths if they're going to compete against the Aussies" - Ricky Ponting on the Test series

West Indies Test captain Kraigg Brathwaite. (Credits: Getty)

The 47-year-old also opined that the Caribbeans have their task cut out in the two-Test series against Australia, starting on November 30 in Perth. He said:

"They're going to have to find a few lengths if they're going to compete against the Aussies. The current group that the Australians have got, you just line them up on paper, there's no way you think that they could compete. Cricket's a funny game but they're going to have to play out of their skins I think to make even the first two Tests entertaining."

It will also be West Indies' first Test tour Down Under since 2015.