Coach: Phil Simmons
ICC World Ranking: 2
Squad: Darren Sammy (c), Samuel Badree, Sulieman Benn, Carlos Brathwaite, Dwayne Bravo, Johnson Charles, Andre Fletcher, Chris Gayle, Jason Holder, Evin Lewis, Ashley Nurse, Denesh Ramdin (wk), Andre Russell, Marlon Samuels, Jerome Taylor.
FIXTURES
Match 1: England vs West Indies, Group 1
Date and Time: 16 March, Tuesday – 2pm GMT/7.30pm IST
Venue: Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai
Match 2: Sri Lanka vs West Indies, Group 1
Date and Time: 20 March, Tuesday – 2pm GMT/7.30pm IST
Venue: M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore
Match 3: South Africa vs West Indies, Group 1
Date and Time: 25 March, Tuesday – 2pm GMT/7.30pm IST
Venue: Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium, Jamtha, Nagpur
Match 4: West Indies vs TBC (Qualifier 1B), Group 1
Date and Time: 16 March, Tuesday – 9.30AM GMT/3pm IST
Venue: Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium, Jamtha, Nagpur
Overview: Probably the most destructive team in the competition, West Indies have all the ingredients to go on and win the ICC World T20 in India. As bowling legend Curtly Ambrose rightly pointed out, they have a number of T20 superstars playing in various leagues around the world and a team comprising of Chris Gayle, Andre Russell, Dwayne Bravo, Marlon Samuels and Darren Sammy should be considered as favourites to win any T20 format they play in.
However, what goes against them is the perpetual conflict that is present in their cricket, with the fight between the players and the board escalating with each passing year, add to that the pulling out of important players like Darren Bravo, Kieron Pollard, Sunil Narine and Lendl Simmons for various reasons. If the team can put up a cohesive front, they are a very dangerous team to face.
Key player
Chris Gayle: Wherever he goes, whichever T20 league he plays in, Chris Gayle is the star attraction. The man who opened the inaugural 2007 edition with a blistering 57 ball 117 runs against South Africa, is the second highest run scorer in the format and will be looking to add more to his kitty.
The left-hander has also hit 49 sixes, the most in T20 World Cup history. Windies will be looking forward to Gayle to fire them to a second T20 title.
World Cup history: The West Indies have won the World T20 title once in 2012, while finishing third in the 2014 edition.
Prediction: West Indies have been drawn in Group 1 along with England, Sri Lanka, South Africa and winner of Group B qualifiers. They possess some of the best match-winners in the T20 format and if they can get past the controversy and infighting that seem to dodge them, they stand a good chance of reaching the knock-out stages. (Reprinted:International Business Times)
Chris Gayle is a superstar in the T20 version of the game (Getty image)
