The two-time T20 World Champions, West Indies didn’t look even the shadow of themselves when they locked horns with India in the recently concluded ODI and T20I series. They were outplayed by the Indian team on all fronts but the sad part of it was that they didn’t even look like they were trying to win. Now former head coach Ravi Shastri asks Mohammed Kaif why the Windies players are unable to do well for their national team.
West Indies players have been part of the Indian Premier League ever since its inception and have performed exceedingly well for whatever franchise they have played. However, when it comes to the national side, they somehow falter and end up performing underwhelmingly. This raises the question of why the Caribbean players fail to perform for their team and Ravi Shastri asks Mohammed Kaif the same.
Ravi Shastri asks Mohammed Kaif the reason of Windies’ failure
Ravi Shastri asks Mohammed Kaif the reason for Windies players’ failure while playing for their national team on FanCode as he said, “Kaifu, you played IPL for so many years. They play in the IPL, and they are so impressive. Toh inka problem kya hai? Vo West Indies ke liye kyun nahi khlete? Have you talked to them?” Kaif gave a very frank answer to this query by Shastri and fans can totally relate to it.
In his reply to Shastri, Kaif said, “The issue is that they get a lot of matches to play abroad. They can get fame and money,. So that’s the difference. I also think that their former cricketers weren’t successful in convincing these players (to give time to the West Indies).”
It is a known fact that the West Indies Cricket Board has struggled financially over the years and the players don’t get the facilities that they deserve. In the past, there have been incidents where the Caribbean players opted to play franchise cricket rather than representing their national side. Kaif feels that the current Windies side looks lacklustre with players not excited enough to play for their team.
It is to note that West Indies won the T20 World Cup twice and are the only team to achieve the feat. The first World Cup came in the 2012 edition and they won their second cup in the year 2016. However, post that, their team has seen a downward trend as far as the performance of the team is concerned. At the moment, the team looks really weak and the management must work with the players so they can play as a unit in the upcoming T20 World Cup.