West Indies’ drop in the game has shocked and disappointed the cricketing world. West Indies they have performed poorly in international cricket for quite some time and hit a new low last month when they failed to qualify for the next World Cup.
The winners of the first two editions of the World Cup, West Indies, will not play in the next edition after losing to Zimbabwe, the Netherlands and Scotland. His failure to qualify for the tournament sent shock waves through the cricketing fraternity. Several former cricketers, including Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir, have openly expressed their disappointment in the current situation of West Indies cricket.
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Following the disastrous failure to qualify for the World Cup, the cricket world has been busy discussing the possible reasons behind it. Many believe that there is a lack of passion and pride amongst the current West Indies players as they represent the team.
AB de Villiers on the fall of the West Indies:
In recent years, several big names from the Caribbean have decided not to play for the West Indies in order to play franchise cricket. On various occasions, players have chosen to represent franchise teams in the West Indies. However, former South African star AB de Villiers doesn’t disagree with the reason.
Speaking about the West Indies situation in cricket, the great South African stated that even the powerful Australian side of the late 1990s and early 2000s faced a lot of turmoil, but it did not affect their performance on the pitch.
It all started when an Indian journalist tweeted that the West Indies should be stripped of Test status. He also suggested that the West Indies team should be abolished and that the ICC should grant individual islands associate member status.
The concept of cricket being the West Indies should be abolished and all those island countries (Jamaica, Barbados, Antigua, Guyana, Trinidad etc) should be given associate memberships. Then they can play for pride and, who knows, one or two may bounce back in the…
—Vikrant Gupta (@vikrantgupta73) July 15, 2023
I don’t agree with that tweet at all. I don’t think the West Indian theme has anything to do with passion or pride. Look at the ’90s, early 2000s – the mighty Australian team. I know for a fact that they never really got along. There was a lot of tumult in that environment, in the locker room. Not many players liked each other.” AB de Villiers said on his YouTube channel.
“I know because I have spoken to some of the players who were there at the time. But look at how they performed on the field. It had nothing to do with pride or passion or whether or not they were best friends. The moment they crossed the boundary rope, they made it happen. The fire just lit.” added AB de Villiers.
Speaking further, AB de Villiers spoke about the West Indies decline in the game. The former cricketer urged the West Indies to put their differences behind them and play as a team.
“In my opinion, the West Indies need to come together as a team. I don’t know if the problems are from above or from the base or if maybe there isn’t enough talent right now there.” he said.
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