• Source:JND
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JE Sports Desk:  The performance of West Indies cricket has suffered a new low as they failed to make it to the upcoming ODI World Cup in India later this year. It will be the first time that the inaugural champions will not be there to play in the enormous event having not missed any of the ODI or T20 World Cup till now.

It was eminent that West Indies will come to this day sooner or later despite being crowned double T20I champions in 2012 and 2016.

Despite having many dynamic hitters and some really talented bowlers in their lineup over the years, the Men in Maroon have been mediocre in the 50-over format for quite a while now.

A team that dominated the game in the 1970s and 1980s, widely regarded as one of the greatest cricket teams in history having not lost a Test series for 15 years. They went on to win the first two ODI World Cups under the leadership of the great Clive Lloyd.

With every passing decade, the game of cricket became a disappointing aspect of the sport for the West Indies.

 

Rise of T20I format and fall of Caribbean brand of cricket


The rise of T20 cricket and leagues across the globe after the 2010s made the situation even worse for the Men in Maroon with their players started prioritising the shorter format and even started skipping playing for the nation in order to grab the limelight in T20 cricket.

The leagues have made it virtually impossible to have a quality West Indies team that is proud of wearing the iconic maroon jersey.

Call it an irony that Darren Sammy was guiding the team as the coach in the qualifiers, the man who won them their last global trophy winning as his heart still bleeds for West Indies.

It was disheartening to see the likes of Kieron Pollard, Dwayne Bravo, Andre Russell, and Sunil Narine have time and again refused to play for West Indies as international cricket couldn't have secured a future that they aspired for their families.

The team couldn't stand again on their potential with the key players started to opt for franchise cricket across the globe rather than playing for their national team.

 

WI's run in ODI World Cup Qualifiers 2023

Shai Hope-led West Indies were placed in group A as they began their campaign with a win over the United States followed by another victory against Nepal. The men in Maroon then lost the way in between and suffered their first loss against Zimbabwe and then had back-to-back losses against the Netherlands, first in the group stage and then in a nail bitter in a super sixes fixture.

They had to register a win over Scotland on Saturday but failed to do so and suffered a humiliating loss of seven wickets that buried their World Cup qualification hopes.

1. WI beat USA by 39 runs (Group A game, Harare)

2. WI beat Nepal by 101 runs (Group A game, Harare)

3. WI lost against Zimbabwe by 35 runs (Group A game, Harare)

4. WI lost in the Super Over against Netherlands

5. WI lost against Scotland by 7 wickets (Super Sixes Match 3, Harare)

They have two games in hand in the tournament as they will be taking on Oman on July 5 and Sri Lanka on July 7.

The two-time ODI World Cup and two-time T20 World Champions are ranked eighth in the Test rankings in the world. They stand tenth and seventh in the ODI and T20I rankings respectively.