West Indies Rising - The Caribbean Kings’ journey to World Twenty20 glory [Part 1]
Beating out the Lankan http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Lions-c808 in front of a frenzied Sri Lankan crowd at the R Premadasa Stadium during the final of the ICC World Twenty20, 2012, was no mean feat – however, aside from being an exciting end to the fourth edition of the tournament, culminating in overjoyed bursts of impromptu dance performances on field, and the inevitable confetti and champagne showers, the sight of the Caribbean Kings lifting the World T20 trophy marked an important turn in the progression of West Indies cricket.
The 1970s and 1980s were the glory days of the http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Michael-Anthony-Holding-c75756 at their disposal, the team gained a fearsome reputation on the international cricketing stage, and went on to lift the world cup twice – in 1975 and 1979.
However, as the retirements of the veterans steadily started pouring in, and behind-the-scenes politics seeped into the Windies' cricket administration, the team was transformed, from a powerful, well-oiled unit, to a fragmented, unstable group of players at the mercy of questionable management.
Eventually, the team found themselves slipping lower on the http://www.senore.com/Cricket/RR-Sarwan-c2371, to the whims of a capricious board.
Recent times, however, witnessed a subtle change starting to make itself felt - the newly appointed coach-captain duo of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/DJG-Sammy-c1382 expressed a single-minded determination to resurrect the national side, and appeared to be busy tinkering with the team behind the scenes.
The year 2012 saw a marked change in the West Indies team, if initially not so much in terms of numbers and stats as in the attitude and spirit displayed by the players. The realisation that they had nothing to lose, and nowhere to go but up, seemed to have liberated the team, and they went on to put up a competitive show during http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746’s tour of the Caribbean in March/April this year. The team managed to tie the ODI series (2-2) and the T20I series (1-1) before losing the Test series to their visitors, 2-0 (3) – an excellent performance for a team like the West Indies against an opponent like Australia.
The tour of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/England-c56013 that followed was far from successful, and Sammy’s men lost the Tests, ODIs and the only T20I they played against the Poms – the only upside was the return of the mighty Chris Gayle, who made a much-anticipated comeback after patching up his differences with the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB), marking a change in the air for the Caribbean Kings.
The West Indies went on to make up for their poor (but not unexpected) showings in England, with a fabulous performance during http://www.senore.com/Cricket/New-Zealand-c754’s tour of the United States and the West Indies in June/July/August. After sweeping the T20I series in Florida 2-0, they went on to defeat the Kiwis 4-1 during the ODIs and 2-0 during the extended-overs leg of the tour.
Continued in Part 2 …
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