The group stage matches of the Twenty20 World Cup 2022 will begin on October 16 and the first matches will be played between Sri Lanka and Namibia. From the group stage, four countries will have the opportunity to enter the Super 12 round.
Eight teams have already qualified for the Super 12, and they are Afghanistan, Australia, England and New Zealand in the first group, while Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and South Africa have qualified in the second group.
Accordingly, the West Indies team entering the Super 12 will have to compete against strong Ireland, Zimbabwe, and Scotland under Group B in the group stage. Group A will feature a strong Sri Lankan team, Netherlands, Namibia and UAE.
However, West Indies are currently struggling in the T20 format and have won six of their last twenty matches and lost 13. Senior players are rare in the team, some senior players like all-rounder Kieron Pollard, DJ Bravo have retired and destructive players like Lewis have been dropped from the team due to fitness issues.
However, the head coach of the team, Phil Simmons, stated that the players cannot be begged to play for the national team.
“It hurts. There’s no other way to put it. But what can you do? I don’t think that I should be begging people to play for their countries. I think if you want to represent West Indies, you will make yourself available.”
Accordingly, the West Indian team is far from choosing a strong team for the World Cup. It can be guessed that several players who represented West Indies will not get a chance for the Twenty20 World Cup.
01 Evin Lewis
Trinidad opener Lewis has scored 1,423 runs at an average of 30.93 in 50 T20i matches, including two centuries and ten fifties. He has not represented the national team since November 2021. It is unlikely that he will have a place in the squad for the Twenty20 World Cup this year.
He will not eligible for these selections because he has not yet appeared for the physical fitness test. A few weeks ago, Dr. Haynes had discussed with him. according to Haynes, he has not received a very positive response from Lewis. Also, according to the answers received, it can be seen that Evin Lewis does not care about the fitness test.
“When I reached out to him…I asked him all the things that I have heard regarding the injury. He said, ‘Yes.’ I said, ‘You were asked to do a 2K?’ He said, ‘Yes.’ I said, “Did you do it?” he said, ‘No.’ I said, ‘Did you not try to make arrangements to redo the test?’ He said, ‘No.”
02 Andrew Russell
Jamaican player Russell is a fierce all-rounder who represented the West Indies. He has scored 741 runs in 67 matches for West Indies and has also taken 39 wickets. The all-rounder has scored 6943 runs in 414 T20 matches with two centuries and 26 fifties and he has also taken 372 wickets.
However, a few days ago, Dr. Desmond Haynes said that he will not be a member of the T20 World Cup squad.
“From what I have gathered, I think he is unavailable because he hasn’t made himself available.”
03 Oshane Thomas
Thomas caught the attention of the region and the world in 2017 when he bowled at a good pace in the Caribbean Premier League. He has taken 21 wickets in 20 international T20 matches and is currently out of the national squad as the team did not get what was expected of him.
Thomas’ weight has increased by several pounds and his inability to reach the pace he saw earlier was a major factor in his withdrawal from the squad. Former Jamaican captain Perry believes Thomas was a deadly player when he was on the right track. However, he will not be a member of the Twenty20 World Cup squad as he has not participated in the fitness test yet.
04 Sunil Narine
Narine is one of the best mystery bowlers in the world and one of the most frequent West Indies players in leading franchises around the world. He has taken 52 wickets in 51 T20 matches for West Indies. Also, he has got 457 wickets in 421 T20 matches around the world as well as 3211 runs as a batsman.
However, Sunil has not played any Twenty20 match for West Indies since August 2019. But he said a few days ago in a discussion with ESPNcricinfo
“Things happen for a reason and hopefully, in the future, I’ll be wearing maroon again, but until then, I’d still love to play for the Windies. We shall see when that opportunity comes, but there will never be a no for West Indies.”
05 Carlos Brathwaite
The Barbados player is the main player who played a big role in the victory of the West Indies team in the final match of the Twenty20 World Cup in 2016. There he hit four consecutive sixes against Ben Stock to bring the Caribbean its second T20 World Cup.
He has scored 310 runs and 31 wickets in 41 international Twenty20 matches. Also, 2244 runs and 218 wickets have been broken in 238 T20 matches. However, after August 2019, Carlos did not get a chance to wear the maroon color for any Twenty20 match.
Additionally, fast bowlers Sheldon Cottrell, Fabian Allen, and Roston Chase are likely to miss the World Cup due to injuries.
Its all ok…we have a bunch to try. ..try to get out the 1st found
I will like to see rovman Powell as captain of the team.Based on current form only Sunil of all the players mentioned can make the team