Beating Australia in Australia requires a lot of courage and the same was shown by the Kraigg Braithewaite-led West Indies during the second Test match in Brisbane. West Indies pacer Shamar Joseph had a dream debut series as he rekindled the excitement of playing cricket for the national team. Shamar Joseph took a total of nine wickets in the day-night Test and anchored West Indies’ eight-run victory.
Furthermore, the West Indies batsmen showed a lot of character in the first and second innings despite being pressured by the Australian attack. The West Indies managed to draw the two-match Test series 1-1 and also gave themselves a boost for the years to come.
However, in recent years, there has been a huge decline in West Indies cricket. The team that dominated the cricket world in the 70s and 80s with their lethal batting and pace attack, failed to qualify for the ODI World Cup 2023. The main reason behind the drop was lack of interest from the players nationals to represent their national team. play in T20 leagues to earn more money.
However, Shamar Joseph has reignited the passion and excitement for West Indies cricketers to represent their team. Former Australian captain Steve Waugh was amazed by Shamar Joseph’s performance in the second Test match against Australia. Waugh shared a post thanking Shamar and stated that Cinderella stories are very rare in cricket. However, according to him, the second AUS vs WI test was an example of such a story. Waugh further added that Shamar Joseph’s performance has once again rekindled the passion for playing cricket in the Caribbean.
Steve Waugh shares a thank you post to Shamar Joseph
His caption read: “There is nothing like Test cricket and this man can be the savior in the purest form of the game. Cinderella stories are rare in sport, but this was truly epic from a young man who has single-handedly rekindled the passion of cricket fans in the Caribbean and around the world. Congratulations.”
Bowling in the second innings of the Brisbane Test was not easy for Shamar Joseph. Shamar was hit on the toes by a toe-crushing yorker by Mitchell Starc. Shamar was taken off injured and was also unable to walk back to the locker room. However, coming out of that knock and breaking through the Australian batting order was a commendable job. Joseph hit a seven-fer in the second innings and dismissed big names like Usman Khawaja, Travis Head and Marnus Labuschagne cheaply.
This was the fourth time the West Indies had defeated Australia at The Gabba. The loss against the West Indies was a big setback for the Australians as they were in no position to lose the match towards the end of Day 3. The world Test champions have a lot to think about and discuss after David Warner’s retirement.