Who said what - top five expert reactions to West Indies failing to qualify for 2023 World Cup

West Indies cricket hit a new low when they were recently knocked out of the race to qualify for the ODI World Cup in India later this year. Losses against Zimbabwe, Netherlands, and Scotland sealed the fate of the two-time world champions, as they won't be a part of the showpiece event for the first time in its rich history.

It was quite a disappointing moment not just for the Caribbean fans but also the neutrals, as the West Indies bring a different flair and brand of cricket to the ICC events. Having had such a great history where the likes of Vivian Richards, Clive Lloyd, etc. won the first two World Cups, it's sad to see their decline over the years.

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Reactions from former cricketers and experts to West Indies crashing out of the qualification race

#5 Carlos Brathwaite

All-rounder Carlos Brathwaite played a pivotal role in the 2016 T20 World Cup final when he smashed four sixes in the last over to help West Indies win their second T20 World Cup title. That was arguably the last top-class achievement from the men from the Caribbean before what has been a steep decline.

Speaking to former cricketer and compatriot Ian Bishop in a video posted by ICC, Brathwaite opened up on why he wasn't shocked to see Shai Hope and Co. fail to qualify. He said:

“It has been a long time coming. We missed out on T20 World Cup last year. There has been troubles in the past but this is the lowest you can go. They got over against USA but they didn’t managed to roll them over or even bowl them out. It wasn’t clinical enough. As a result the same attitude then transpired and it became worse as they went on."

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#4 Wasim Jaffer

Former Indian cricketer Wasim Jaffer took to Twitter to express his disappointment with the West Indies not qualifying. However, he also left a positive message for the Windies, saying that they could only improve from where they were. He wrote:

"Such a shame that West Indies won't be there at the World Cup.. Caribbean cricket has officially hit rock bottom. But when you hit rock bottom, only way is up. #WestIndies #CWCQualifier"

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#3 Gautam Gambhir

Former Indian opener Gautam Gambhir was pretty positive about the Windies getting back to their best, as he had nothing but positivity for the team in his tweet. He wrote:

"I love West Indies I love West Indian cricket I still believe they can be the No.1 team in world cricket!"

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#2 Virender Sehwag

Former Indian cricketer Virender Sehwag also tweeted expressing his disappointment. He shed light on how several factors are necessary for a team's success and not just the talent of the players.

Here's what he wrote:

"What a shame. West Indies fail to qualify for the World cup. Just shows talent alone isn’t enough, need focus and good man management, free from politics. The only solace is there isn’t further low to sink from here."

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#1 Ian Bishop

Arguably one of the most emotional reactions came from Ian Bishop and rightly so since he has been covering the game for such a long period of time and has seen the gradual decline of the team.

Speaking to ESPNCricinfo, Bishop explained how the decline began right from failing to qualify for the main phase of the T20 World Cup last year. He said:

"To not have West Indies as part of the World Cup is, to me, unimaginable. I can echo the sentiments of many fans and West Indian supporters, of whom there are still many. Coming at the back of the 2021 T20 World Cup disappointment, and then not making it into the main round of the 2022 T20 World Cup, it is a stifling reality of where the [West Indies] cricket is at the moment."

"Not just being with the Associate nations, but that some of those nations are beating you quite convincingly. So there's a lot of work to be done almost immediately," he added.

There will need to be radical changes made if the Windies want to get back to their glory days.