The West Indies team is packed with Twenty20 (T20) stars but when you take a close examination of the squad, you realise that this team is unbalanced for the conditions they are going to meet in Bangladesh.The problem I have with this team is the fact that it is too heavily packed with medium and fast bowlers.We are going to play in spin friendly conditions yet we are carrying Ravi Rampaul, Sheldon Cotterrell, Andre Russell, Dwayne Bravo, Darren Sammy and Krishmar Santokie. The spin options are the T&T pair of Sunil Narine and Samuel Badree.I would have liked to see Suliemann Benn or Nikita Miller in the mix. Even as a wild card I would have gone for Ashley Nurse, who also gives the ball a thump lower down the order.
My first choice addition to the list would have been the Barbadian and Red Steel left-arm orthodox spinner Benn. The lanky Benn has proven his worth in T20 cricket and God forbid anything goes wrong with Narine or Badree, it would have been excellent to have a man with an average of 27.60 and economy rate of 7.01 coming in.Apart from the bowling bias toward the medium and fast stuff, the squad remains a good one. The batsmen have all picked themselves with consistent performances in T20 cricket.With Keiron Pollard out, the key to getting runs on the board, lies heavily with Chris Gayle and Marlon Samuels–the star of the tournament last time around.
Both men seem to be coming into form and this is an ominous sign for the opposition. I think this team can go all the way if the good Lord smiles on us in terms of keeping away injuries.A good sign for the defending champions is the fact that most of the men are in form, coming out of the Ireland and England series, as well as the Nagico Super50.Another factor favouring the West Indies is the conditions they would meet in Bangladesh. In recent times, West Indian teams have been performing well in the subcontinent. The slow pitches tend to work well for the men in maroon, as they have the spin quality and the experience in the pace department to keep teams to average scores.
The team is now looking like a unit again, after all the problems in New Zealand toward the end of last year and the beginning of this year, the boys seem to be gelling well again and supporting each other.I looked on with keen interest at the leadership of Darren Sammy during the England series and he looked in control. What was good to see was the corporation between ODI captain Dwayne Bravo and himself.Finally, let me wish the boys all the best in Bangladesh and as some of them told me–it's a tour of duty. When men are on tours of duty, they battle fiercely with tremendous focus. If we get this from the West Indies then the (West Indies Cricket Board) staff would have to make room for another trophy in the cabinet in St John's, Antigua.