West Indies, winners of the first two ICC world cups, will enter the prestigious event amid a terrible player-board dispute which saw the omission of star players Dwayne Bravo and Kieron Pollard from the team.
The dressing room looks gloomy and mystery spinner Sunil Narine’s unavailability only hampers their chances for the global tournament.
Prior to the World Cup, West Indies were trounced by South Africa in the 50-over format as they were handed a 4-1 beating by the Proteas.
Unpredictability is both West Indies strength and their weakness. They possess explosive batsmen in the form of Chris Gayle, Marlon Samuels and Andre Russell who can either set the pace of an innings or provide late momentum.
They will be led by the youngest player in their squad- Jason Holder. The 23-year-old would be banking heavily on the senior players to progress in the tournament.
The bowling attack looks decent with Jerome Taylor, Andre Russell and Kemar Roach and on their day as a combination, they can keep strong lineups on their toes.
Coach Stuart Williams has the onerous task of guiding a team which has gone through a lot and will also lend a helping hand to the young skipper to get the best out of their limited resources and keep them team motivated.
West Indies are a momentum team and should they get their confidence up, they can give tight competition to the more fancied teams and who knows, we might just see an encore to their 2012 Gangnam style celebration!
Key players
Chris Gayle
A World Cup veteran, Gayle is still the side’s premier batsman at the age of 35. His explosive and destructive batting will be crucial to any progress West Indies make in the tournament.
Marlon Samuels
One of the key factors behind West Indies’ World T20 triumph in 2012, he has become the team’s most bankable player. A handy off spinner, he can take an important wicket or two.
Dark Horse
Kemar Roach
At well under six feet, he has extreme pace, consistently touching the late 140s (kph), and can skid on to batsmen quicker than they realise. He may just turn out to be the spark Windies need in the World Cup.
Squad: Jason Holder (captain), Marlon Samuels (vice captain), Sulieman Benn, Darren Bravo, Jonathan Carter, Sheldon Cottrell, Chris Gayle, Nikita Miller, Denesh Ramdin, Kemar Roach, Andre Russell, Darren Sammy, Lendl Simmons, Dwayne Smith, Jerome Taylor.