The West Indian lower middle order presents a scary proposition to any team that will play against them. There are teams against which if you pick the first two or three wickets cheaply then there are chances that the team might roll over but the real strength of the Windies (I know there is Gayle, but still) lies in the fact that they have 4 very good all-rounders who can win the match for them either with the bat or with the ball on their own.
Dwayne Bravo
Dwayne Bravo is a flamboyant right handed batsman who plays with the typical Caribbean high back lift and flair. He is a cool and calm customer under pressure and can hit the ball long. He has played over 200 T20 matches representing leagues all around the world and has been fairly successful in doing so. He was an integral part of the highly successful Chennai team in the IPL and thus has enough knowledge on the Indian conditions. He bowls handy medium pace and relies on clever variations of pace to fool the batsmen and is an extremely athletic fielder.
Impact Rating – 8/10
Darren Sammy
Darren Sammy is the West Indian captain and it was under his inspirational and stirring captaincy that the Windies the ICC WT20 in 2012 defeating Sri Lanka at a packed Premadasa stadium in Colombo. He can be a very dangerous customer with the bat but usually lacks the consistency that is required of a good player. He can also bowl seam up and like Bravo is a very good exponent of the changes in pace.
Impact Rating – 7/10
Kieron Pollard
Pollard is a strongly built Trinidadian who shot in to limelight by playing eye catching knocks for the Trinidad and Tobago team in the Champions League T20 played in India way back in 2009. He was contracted by the Mumbai Indians shortly after that and he has been a vital cog in the success that the Mumbai team have tasted in the IPL. He has played 299 T20 matches and has scored nearly 6000 runs at an average of 32 and a strike rate of over 150. He also has 214 wickets at a strike rate of 17. Like all Caribbean cricketers he too is naturally athletic and is known for his stunning fielding skills.
Impact Rating – 7.5/10
Andre Russel
A strongly built Jamaican, he is a fast bowling all-rounder with the ability to smash the ball long and hard. He is one of the cleanest strikers of the ball and his most favoured area is straight down the ground. His extra pace will certainly hurry the batsmen up and he has the ability to snatch matches which seem like a lost cause with his batting. He has a mind boggling strike rate of 170 in 178 T20 matches which depicts how dangerous a customer he can be. Like Dwayne and Pollard he is an outstanding fielder anywhere in the field.
Impact Rating – 7.5/10
The West Indian quartet of all-rounders have the ability to single-handedly change the course of any match with their Fantastico skills and I am sure that they will certainly have a huge impact on the West Indian fortunes in the WT20 in India.
This blog post is inspired by the blogging marathon hosted on IndiBlogger for the launch of the #Fantastico Zica from Tata Motors. You can apply for a test drive of the hatchback Zica today.
No comments:
Post a Comment