Every ICC tournament, whether ODI or T20, leaves behind many stories which are and will be talked about by many people in the years to come. The ICC World T20 2016 hosted by India, was no different. It left behind many stories of players and teams which gave it their all or were not able to perform on the big stage.
For example, Afghanistan- a war-torn country, had a good World T20 campaign. They maintained a perfect record in the qualifying stage with three wins out of three. In the Super-10s, they fought hard against South Africa, England and Sri Lanka, before winning against eventual champions West Indies.
One of the highlights was Mohammad Shahzad’s innings of 44 from just 19 balls to get Afghanistan off to a flying start against South Africa.
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Another inspirational story of the tournament was that of the ‘Champions’, the West Indies.
When the World T20 was starting, nobody had given them a chance because of some terrible showings over the past two-three years. It is no secret that West Indies cricket has been marred by many conflicts between the players and the board but none was as big as the one which started between the players and their representatives in 2014 when West Indies had toured India.
As the players landed in Delhi, they were unaware that the West Indies Player’s Association’s (WIPA- the representatives of the players) head Wavell Hinds had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) which reduced the player’s salaries by 80%.
Unhappy with this back-stabbing, the West Indies squad, led by Dwayne Bravo announced during the toss for the fourth ODI that they were calling the tour off and would play no further part in the series. This decision had serious consequences as WICB and WIPA were humiliated on the international stage.
The outcome was that players like Dwayne Bravo, Kieron Pollard, Darren Sammy and Chris Gayle were not regulars in the side. Also, Bravo and Pollard weren’t picked in the 15- member squad for the ICC World Cup in 2015.
Things weren’t too good for the WICB in more ways than one. First, the BCCI demanded a heavy amount ($65 million) as damages since the series had to be canceled midway.
Had the BCCI pressed charges against WICB, the latter would have been suspended under Clause 2.7- which suggests that should West Indies be deemed to have "fail[ed] to fulfill any of its financial obligations", "fail[ed] to comply with any of its membership obligations", or "act[ed] in such a way as shall be deemed by the Executive Board to bring the game of cricket into disrepute", then "the Executive Board shall be entitled to suspend that Member with immediate effect".
Now, due to the unavailability of many senior players in their ranks, the board sent a largely second-string side comprising of many youngsters like Carlos Brathwaite, Kemar Roach and Sheldon Cottrell, with the only regular senior players being Sulieman Benn, Dinesh Ramdin and Marlon Samuels.
The inexperience showed as the Windies stumbled many series defeat across all formats under young skipper Jason Holder.
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Although Gayle, Sammy and Andre Russell were included in the 15 member squad for the 2015 ICC World Cup, they couldn’t do anything to improve the fortunes of the team as they crashed out in the quarterfinals, not before being given a mighty scare by Scotland and losing to Ireland.
Their last- eight exit and the fact that Bangladesh too exited the quarterfinals of the same tournament meant that the West Indies were facing a battle to maintain their 8th place in the ODI rankings.
But lesser number of matches, some poor results for them and a few famous ODI series wins for Bangladesh meant that West Indies were not one of the top 8 ODI teams in the world as of 30th September 2015 and hence, didn’t make the cut for participation in the 2017 ICC Champion’s Trophy, a first since the inception of the tournament in 1998 and this was really shocking for cricket fans all over the world.
Though West Indies were losing more Tests and ODIs than they were winning, it was not so in the T20Is. They had started 2016 as the top-ranked T20 side in the world, and that may have been one of the reasons that made them one of the contenders.
As the ICC T20 World Cup neared, they saw the return of Gayle, Sammy, Bravo and Samuel Badree into the team. An injury to Pollard meant that Brathwaite found himself in the 15-member squad to India.
But there was another contract crisis with just one month to go for the World T20 when the terms of the contract weren’t accepted by the team coming to India due to the massive price cut.
Skipper Darren Sammy also said the same in his letter to the WICB and added that 14 of the 15 players were not a part of the WIPA and hence, the WIPA couldn’t negotiate on their behalf, and proposed that his team participate in the T20 World Cup under the same terms they had represented the West Indies in previous tournaments.
Sammy's argument was dismissed by Michael Muirhead, the CEO of the WICB. He stated that the sums mentioned in Sammy's statement were incorrect and stated that WIPA was the recognized collective bargaining representative of West Indies cricketers and therefore negotiates the remuneration between WICB and each West Indian player, whether the player is a member of WIPA or not.
He said that non-contracted players too could be selected but had to accept the contract decided last year between the board and the WIPA before 14 February to be eligible, and threatened to send a second-string side if the players failed to do so. Eventually, the players accepted the contracts to ensure that the West Indies send a near full-strength team to India.
But that was not the end of their problems. They had no uniforms for the event and it was their new manager, Raul Lewis, who went to Kolkata to get them printed. In the lead-up to the mega event, they were called a team ‘short of brains’ by English commentator Mark Nicholas.
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Despite all the adversities, they were inspired to excel by the victory of their U-19 team in the ICC Under-19 World Cup earlier this year as they went into the World T20. Even though he didn’t do anything much with the bat and ball, Darren Sammy led his men extremely well with only one mantra- believe.
In their first warm-up match, they lost to India by 45 runs. It was after this loss that things took a turn for the better. In the next warm- up, they defeated Australia and this kicked-off a winning spree which constituted wins over England featuring the fastest World T20 hundred by Gayle, over Sri Lanka and over South Africa.
In their last Super-10 match, they were beaten by Afghanistan to end with three wins out of four to finish on top of their group.
They faced India in the semifinals and stunned the hosts by seven wickets to cause a major upset. In the final, they met England. It was a keenly contested match which was sealed when Brathwaite hit Ben Stokes for four consecutive sixes in the last over. Thus, West Indies became the first team to win the ICC World T20 title twice.
What was heartening to see in their campaign was that they were enjoying the atmosphere, even when they were in trouble. They danced their way through the tournament and even celebrated with the Afghanistan team after their loss.
Darren Sammy said throughout the tournament that he had a team of 15 match winners and a different player stood up in each match to take their team home. He believed a lot in his team and had said that they had the ability to get the job done.
The team didn’t disappoint their captain by getting the job done to cap off a brilliant year for West Indies Cricket, with their women’s team winning the women’s ICC World T20 as well.
A comparison with the 1970s
This turnaround resembled the rise of West Indies in the 1970s, which saw them stay at the top of world cricket for almost two decades.
The man then was Clive Lloyd. He brought 15 talented individuals from the Caribbean together and made the gang a team which would become invincible. He was the hand that guided the team to world domination.
Lloyd’s first test as skipper was the tour of Australia in 1975-76, which the hosts won 5-1. The aftermath of this series saw the birth of bowlers like Michael Holding, Colin Croft and Andy Roberts as fearsome fast bowlers who could bounce the opposition out.
In the lead-up to West Indies’ tour of England in 1976, England captain Tony Greig said that the West Indies team were ‘not as good as everyone thought they were’ and added that it wasn't that long ago they were beaten 5–1 by the Australians and only just managed to keep their heads above water against the Indians, just a short time ago as well.
He agreed that they had some fast bowlers but felt that they weren’t as good as Jeff Thomson and Dennis Lillee. To top it all, he said, “You must remember that the West Indians, these guys, if they get on top are magnificent cricketers. But if they're down, they grovel, and I intend, with the help of Closey and a few others, to make them grovel.”
The comment motivated the West Indies and the result was a 3-0 drubbing of England, thanks to some fiery pace bowling by their pacers and some fearless batting by Sir Vivian Richards. The team never looked back after that as they continued to dominate world cricket in their own style.
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The brand of cricket the West Indies play, mixing cricket with fun, is really pleasing and extremely rare to see. Their style is what gives them so much love from people around the world and for many, West Indies come second only to their home country in their favorites’ list.
So, it is disheartening to see West Indies cricket in shambles. Only time will tell whether or not wins in three major ICC tournaments will bring joy and good fortunes to the people of the Caribbean, to its cricketers and to its board, which would enable them to play good cricket for much longer and once again become a force to be reckoned with.
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