The West indies side started the year with a tour of Bangladesh for two Tests and three ODIs. Both the series were one-sided as West Indies whitewashed Bangla tigers 2-0 in Tests but the hosts thumped Men in Maroon 3-0 in the ODIs. The Test series will be remembered for Kyle Mayers who struck an unbelievable double century on his debut. Sri Lanka were the visitors to West Indies for a full series as the hosts won the limited-overs series and the Tests were drawn 0-0. Three teams were then scheduled to tour West Indies between June to August starting with South Africa.
The Proteas side won both the Test and T20I series as West Indies then hammered Australia 4-1 in the T20 series but lost the ODIs 2-1. Pakistan was the last team to visit the Caribbean Islands this year as they won the T20Is 1-0 in which three games were abandoned due to rain. The Tests series was drawn 1-1 and then it was time for the T20 World Cup. The two-time T20 World champions suffered miserably in the event as they lost four out of five matches with their solitary victory coming against Bangladesh. Their bad form didn’t stop after it too as they suffered a 3-0 whitewash in the T20I series in Pakistan.
Meanwhile, here are some of the records created by West Indies across formats in 2021:
1.Kyle Mayers slammed double century on Test debut
Kyle Mayers became the second West Indian and seventh overall to score a double hundred in Tests on debut. Chasing 395 runs in the fourth innings of the first Test against Bangladesh at Chattogram, Kyle Mayers did the impossible by scoring a double ton and remaining not out on 210 to take his side home. Lawrence Rowe was the first West Indian to record the feat against New Zealand in the year 1972. Later in 2021 even New Zealand’s Devon Conway got to the same milestone against England at the Lords.
2.Kieron Pollard hits six sixes in an over in T20I
The power-packed West Indian batter Kieron Pollard joined the elite club of hitting six sixes in an over in international cricket when he smashed Akila Danajaya for six straight sixes in one over in a T20I in March at Antigua. He became the second batter after Yuvraj Singh to achieve the landmark in T20Is. South Africa’s Herschelle Gibbs and USA’s Jaskaran Malhotra have also done the same but in ODIs. Dananjaya who recorded a hat-trick in the same match turned blank as Kieron Pollard went completely berserk to clinch the impossible.
3.Jason Holder recorded 300 wickets across formats
During the T20 World Cup, the tall fast bowler Jason Holder took his 300th wicket across formats for West Indies when he bowled the Bangladesh opener Mohammad Naim in the only match which the Caribbean team won in the mega event. Holder became the tenth West Indies bowler to get to the landmark of 300 scalps in all formats. Considered as one of the most promising all-rounder going around in the world of cricket right now, Holder is approaching 150 wickets in both Tests and ODIs as he has accumulated 138 and 140 wickets respectively.
4.Dwayne Bravo has played most matches for West Indies in T20 World Cups
Since the inception of the ultimate T20I event in the year 2007, West Indies all-rounder Dwayne Bravo has played 34 matches for the team in the tournament which is the highest by any Caribbean player. Chris Gayle, the Universe Boss is just behind Bravo who has took the field 33 times. He is also just second behind Sri Lanka’s Tilakaratne Dilshan who has appeared in most number of games which is 35. With 27 wickets to his name, Bravo is also the highest wicket-taker for the Men in Maroon in the global event.
5.Evin Lewis has scored most runs for West Indies in T20Is in a calendar year
During the T20 World Cup, the opening southpaw Evin Lewis became the West Indies batter with most runs in T20Is in a calendar year. He has scored 489 runs this year with a strike-rate of 155.73, scoring four half-centuries and 37 humongous sixes. With 484 runs, another hard-hitting left-handed batter Nicholas Pooran is second in the list. Evin Lewis has cleared the ropes 82 times in T20 games in 2021 with only New Zealand’s Glenn Phillips (97) and England’s Liam Livingstone (86) ahead of him.