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West Indies, led by Kieron Pollard, conceded the T20I series 3-2 against South Africa in a closely fought contest. The hosts looked dominant on paper and were considered the favorites to win the five-match series comfortably. The return of some of their big players in Chris Gayle, Andre Russell, Dwayne Bravo and Lendl Simmons meant expectations were high from Pollard's team.
West Indies, who are the current T20 World Cup title holders, won their first match comfortably but lost the next two. They then bounced back to win the fourth match, but were beaten by the Proteas in the decider and lost the series 3-2.
The likes of Bravo, Evin Lewis, Obed McCoy and Fidel Edwards performed really well for the Men in Maroon. However, some of the big guns like Nicolas Pooran, Shimron Hetmyer and Jason Holder disappointed in the five-match series.
Here, we analyze the three West Indies players who disappointed in the recently concluded T20I series against the Proteas.
#3 Chris Gayle
The 41-year old batsman from Jamaica had a rather quiet series for his standards. In four matches, Chris Gayle scored just 56 runs with only one knock in excess of 30.
Gayle batted at number 3 for West Indies throughout the series while Fletcher and Simmons were alternately paired with Evin Lewis for the opening spot. The Universe Boss faced a lot of difficulty negotiating the spinners of South Africa, which was strange given his exploits in the IPL over the years. Gayle has also batted at number three for the Punjab Kings in recent years, so his inability to score runs against the Proteas while occupying that spot was quite disappointing.
On the bright side, Gayle picked up a wicket during the series for the West Indies with his off-breaks.
#2 Andre Russell
Despite his reputation as one of the cleanest hitters in modern cricket, Andre Russell's performance in this series would have given Pollard and the think tank more selection headaches.
Included late in the squad for the T20I series against South Africa, Russel's performances were satisfactory only in patches. He played a couple of quickfire knocks but scored just 62 runs in five matches at an average of 15.50. Russel also failed to take the West Indies past their targets when it mattered, something he had excelled in previously.
He struggled with the ball as well and only managed to scalp four Proteas wickets in the entire series.
#1 Kieron Pollard
Skipper Kieron Pollard was perhaps the biggest let down for the West Indies in the five-match series against the Proteas. The big man from Trinidad was pretty average with the ball, managing just a solitary wicket in five matches at an average of 60.
With the bat, he led his team to victory in the fourth match with an unbeaten 51. However, he could only manage a paltry total of 66 runs in the other four innings. Pollard's struggle against spin was pretty evident as George Linde and Tabraiz Shamsi kept him and the other Windies power hitters on a leash throughout the series.
With the T20 World Cup to come later this year, Pollard would have hoped for a better performance from himself and his team. However, he and the West Indies have a lot to ponder over ahead of the showpiece event.
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