Cricket World Cup 2007 Preview: West Indies

Zainub Razvi

Being the host nation for a World Cup is a strange jinx in Cricket, no team has ever won being the home country. In the last two competitions in particular the home teams have reacted very poorly to the increased expectation and pressure, and have been eliminated in the very first rounds. That scenario is highly unlikely to be repeated this year, given that West Indies is grouped alongside Pakistan, Zimbabwe and Ireland in Group D. But it is hard to predict how Brian Lara's team might feature in the later stages. West Indies' recent performance has been a curious mix of the sublime and the ridiculous. They convincingly defeated Australia, South Africa, England and India on the way to becoming the losing finalist of the 2006 ICC Champions Trophy where the blazing opening combination of Chanderpaul and Gayle, and the rise of Jerome Taylor with the new and old ball, made many commentators mark them out as serious contenders.

But by following that with a run of six losses in their next eight matches, including series losses away to Pakistan and India, fans were left perplexed again about what to expect. Opinion will probably remain divided on how far they might actually go, but with a top six of Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Chris Gayle, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Lara and Marlon Samuels, on largely batsmen friendly home pitches, in front of their own crowds, it is hard not to take them seriously. Even if their bowling attack might not be the best in the world.

Prediction: Losing Semifinalists

Sibin Mohan

West Indies - they can be described as mercurial at best. While the name conjures up the great teams and players of the past (viz., Richards, Greenidge, Holding, Sobers, etc.), the current WI team has had more downs that ups. This is especially true for the last 15 years or so. There are brief periods when they would put their heads down and beat the best teams in the world, while at other times they would lose to minnows like Kenya!

Of course, this phase largely coincides with the rise of Brian Lara - the master batsman, who on his day can take apart any bowling side, and snatch victory from defeat. But he is also the temperamental genius who can easily throw his wicket away. For too long the West Indies team's fortunes have risen and dipped with Lara's performance with the bat (notwithstanding occasional contributions from the likes of Chanderpaul, Gayle, etc.).

For West Indies to win or even just perform well in the World Cup, one will have to wait and see which Lara comes out of the pavilion - the master stroke-player who evokes sheer delight at the way he can caress a ball to the boundary, or the flawed Shakespearean hero who will fail under the weight of his own genius.

Huzaifa

Despite their recent performances, I feel optimistic about the West Indies. Sure, they have home support and friendly pitches. But they have something even more powerful - Brian Lara and his ambition.

Despite his glittering track record, with more than 10,000 runs in the one-day form of the game, he is still to taste World Cup glory. And at 37 years, this might be his last chance.

And what better occasion to win it than now - on home soil, in front of his countrymen. To reclaim the lost glory of the West Indies and lift the ultimate prize.

For men like Brian Lara, who have been through it all, it takes a special effort to push themselves forward. Having played at the highest levels of the game for so long, he's seen the good and the bad, the high and the low. He could have quit the game years ago and retired to a secluded island. He had enough chances to do so. And no one would have blamed him.

But men like Brian Lara can't quit that easily. When he looks back, he dosen't see what he achieved, but rather what he could have acheived. When he looks at his trophy case all he sees is the empty spot where his World Cup medal should have been. And the desire to complete that, the raw, naked ambition to achieve it all, is a potent force.

It's players like Brian Lara which rival teams should be wary of. Players for whom the only achievement left is to lift the ultimate prize. And when genius is driven by such overpowering ambition, inspirational performances are bound to follow.

Prediction: Finalists

Angshuman Hazra

The Calypso Theme
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Dollops of Shiv and Gayle
A sprinkle of Samuels
Loads of the main course Sarwan
All served on Lara's platter -
Who else?

A splash of Bradshaw
A dash of Powell
That gulp of Taylor
And bravo, Mr. & Mr. Smith -
You're primed to do well.

[Ed's note: Apparently someone's opened that bottle of Caribbean rum already.]

West Indian pitches are not Indian pitches because the latter are batting wickets. Mean machines Marlon Samuels and Chris Gayle bowl rather well on the sluggish home tracks. So do the consistent Bradshaw and exciting Jerome Taylor, making them a good ODI bowling combination under the conditions with a spearhead (Taylor) and four meanies. Combine the apt bowling to the respectable batting - the explosive Gayle-Shiv duo starting the proceedings, a formidable Sarwan carrying it on with a reinvented Samuels and then the finish from eternal Lara - and they look like going deep into the tournament. In my book West Indies are ranked fifth at semi-final stakes on current evidence, just behind India.

Since reversing his ODI retirement last year and returning to the side as captain Lara has risked losing a few matches in providing much needed 'pressure experience' to some of his non-performing talents. Samuels' recent shows indicate that those risks were worth the while, as do his team's stupendous success against India and Australia. On the other hand Lara's calls at the toss of coin have been unpredictable, to say the least. For West Indies to book a semi-final berth the telling difference has to come from Brian Lara's form with the captaincy.

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