The West Indies victory in the T20 World Cup reminds us of the West Indian greats like Clive Lloyd and other team players. West Indies had once ruled over cricket for almost 25 years and had won two consecutive World Cup wins in 1975 and 1979. No one can really forget the spectacular fast bowling of Michael Holding, Andy Roberts and Joel Garner; the spin magic of Lawrence Gibbs and classic batting of Vivian Richards and Brain Lara. The downfall of the team began following the retirement of some senior players. For the last many years, the West Indies cricket team was not able to win any competition.
According to cricket observers, the growing popularity of football and other sports in the Caribbean islands prevented young generation to join cricket despite this rich history of cricket.
After 33 years, the West Indies has won again a major world cup title. Due to poor performance and lack of experience, experts had ranked West Indies seventh in the T20 world cup. But this latest performance was remarkable especially against cricket greats like Australia in the semifinal and Sri Lanka in the final one. Samuels hits 6 sixes, each in the last two encounters. In the presence of teams like South Africa, Australia, Pakistan and India, the West Indies victory is astonishing for everyone. Credit goes to Chris Gale and Marlon Samuels and other young players who performed very well under pressure.
This unexpected win can revive the super era of the West Indian cricket. — Khawaja Umer Farooq, Jeddah
West Indies’ win revives past glory
