West Indies Team

The West India Cricket Team, popualry referred to as The Windies, is the national cricket team of the English-speaking Caribbean nations. The West Indian side dominated cricket scene throughout the 1970's and 1980's, but today it's struggling to regain its lost glory. The team won the first two editions of the ICC World Cup in 1975 and 1979, and lost to India in the 1983 World Cup final in a low scoring match. The team has produced several world-renowned cricketers in its 78 years of international cricket. The list of the most popular West Indian cricketers include the names of Garry Sobers, Rohan Kanhai, Clive Lloyd, Joel Garner, Gordon Greenidge, Desmond Haynes, Malcolm Marshall, Viv Richards, Carl Hooper, Courtney Walsh, and Brian Lara. Chris Gayle and Kieron Pollard is a key point for the team who can score quickly and can turn match on his own. Ramnaresh Sarwan and Shivnaraine Chanderpaul are two other batsmen who can score easy runs. Dwayne Bravo is a very good all rounder who can score runs as well as can take wickets. West Indies is standing at 8th place in the ICC rankings for the One-Day Internationals. Sometime back,they faced the issue of contracts and due to that reason, they had to send their second string team to play against Bangladesh and West Indies lost Test as well as One Day series. This loss has cost too much to the West Indies cricket team and except Chris Gayle, nobody has shown consistency after return. Even though team can provide the challenge but they are not favorites to win World Cup 2011. Chris Gayle, one of the most destructive batsmen in limited-overs cricket, will be entering his third World Cup determined to restore the status of the West Indies in the ODI game Darren Bravo is preparing for his first World Cup, and comes in with great expectations as a batsman of the future. He has been groomed for international cricket, as the younger cousin of former skipper Lara and younger half-brother of established allrounder Dwayne Bravo. The 31-year-old Gayle, the former captain and heartbeat of the team as left-handed power-hitter at the top of the order, has blasted 165 sixes (the fifth most in all ODIs) in 221 matches and scored 19 centuries. The solid frame of the middle order is built on the two long-serving Guyanese - Chanderpaul and Sarwan - and the rising star of Caribbean cricket, Darren Bravo. Pollard, a sought-after sensation in domestic Twenty20 leagues around the world, has yet to make an international impact in the 50-over version but opponents will be wary of the influence of his big-hitting. The West Indies' bowling does not present the same confidence as the batting. Kemar Roach's genuine pace and hostility has been a handful for batsmen in his two years of international cricket but the 22-year-old, along with pace colleagues Ravi Rampaul and Andre Russell, will be severely tested on what are likely to be batting-friendly surfaces. So, too, the medium-pace offerings of Sammy, Dwayne Bravo and Pollard and the left-arm spin of Sulieman Benn and Nikita Miller.