Among all, the West Indians have impressed the most in this season of IPl. They not only perform but also add flavour with their entertaining moves while celebrating a wicket or a catch. Amit Chaudhary looks at the performances of players from the West Indies
When they won the World Twenty20 tournament in Sri lanka last year, much was said about the revival of West Indies cricket. The magic of yesteryear Caribbean superstars, their domination of world cricket, their awe-inspiring skills, the flair and, most importantly, the passion for cricket — it all came back.
But revival is a long process. It takes time to make its presence felt. In the meantime, something worthwhile, maybe of lesser importance than ‘revival’, has occurred, something that has brought the spotlight back on the West Indians. People are talking about Caribbean players. From Indian Premier league to Australia’s Big Bash, they are a top draw.
Chris Gayle is at the forefront of this metamorphosis. The Jamaican’s destructive batting abilities and on-field antics have earned him millions of diehard fans. When he played that record-breaking 175-run knock against Pune Warriors, he stunned both cricketers and spectators worldwide. Such was the impact of his innings that it took several mental-conditioning sessions for the Pune bowlers to forget that night.
For his IPl team, Royal Challengers Bangalore, Gayle has become the synonym of success. It is being said that if Gayle scores, RCB win. If he doesn’t, they lose. As a result, rival team strategies are being centred on this gentle giant instead of the entire RCB. But what good a strategy can do when someone has the power to hit every ball outside the park, sometimes outside the stadiumIJ
When that huge weight of willow — 1300gm — strikes against the hapless leather and sends it to the spectators with minimum efforts, bowlers forget everything told to them in team meetings before the match. The psychological advantage he has gained over bowlers has helped RCB immensely. This season, they have won seven matches, four of them from Gayle’s bat.
What Gayle has been doing for RCB, his compatriots have been doing for their respective teams. like Gayle, they have become the vital cogs in their team’s wheel. Take Dwayne Bravo, who represents the Chennai Super Kings. He is the go-to man for CSK skipper MS Dhoni. Whether it is a crucial breakthrough when the opposition is hurting CSK’s chances or 10-15 runs off the last few balls to take the team past the target, Dhoni turns to Bravo. The Caribbean seldom disappoints. His 15-run knock against Rajasthan Royals is a prime example of his utility. They needed 11 runs off the last over and Bravo delivered with a ball to spare. Even on a ‘not so good day’ with the bat and ball, he can inspire his teammates with his fielding abilities. He makes the toughest of catches look simple and saves vital runs while manning the boundary.
Kieron Pollard (Mumbai Indians) is another one from those sexy islands.
So, what makes them such good impact playersIJ Perhaps, a look at the history of West Indies cricket can explain this phenomenon. The West Indians are inherently powerful and good athletes. From Gary Sobers, Clive lloyd and Vivian Richards to present-day stars in Gayle and Pollard, all of them have been good strikers of the ball. They don’t believe in caressing the ball. They hit it hard. They ruled the world for over a decade with this attitude. No one had the answer to their style of cricket.
However, as time progressed, new tactics, techniques and technologies came up and the opposition found chinks in their armour. The West Indian phenomenon began to fade. The absence of financial reward drove the young generation away from cricket. They started to look towards other avenues which affected the continuous supply of fresh talent.
But the advent of Twenty20 cricket has come as a saviour. The game’s requirement of powerful hitters and clever bowlers has brought the Caribbeans back in vogue.
When the Kolkata Knight Riders beat CSK in last year’s IPl final to wear the champions’ crown, they owed their success to Sunil Narine’s 24 wickets with a brilliant economy rate of 5.47. Having grown up playing against power hitters, Narine has developed such a bowling style that is hard to hit. Batsmen of any stature find it difficult to pick his variations. Though KKR as a team are struggling in their bid to protect their title, Narine is still an unsolved mystery for most teams.
When the West Indians were enjoying enormous success in the IPl, their skipper Darren Sammy was conspicuous by his absence. He is the one who should be credited for whatever the West Indies have achieved in the recent past, for making the team a force in the shortest format and, most significantly, for uniting a bunch of individuals from different islands under the umbrella of West Indies cricket.
He is not known for his extraordinary skills but for his passion and enthusiasm for the game. Where he lacks in skill, he fulfills with energy and that’s what he instilled in Sunrisers Hyderabad when he joined them this season. In only his second outing for the newest of the franchisee, he played brilliant 60-run innings to bail out his team from a difficult situation.
No wonder then that every team has a West Indian name on their list of players and with their growing popularity, franchisees will be looking to trap the Caribbean talent when they draw their future plans ahead of next year’s auction.
When the IPl founders thought of the idea of floating a cricket league with a mix of entertainment, they did not much have the Caribbean players in mind. Cricketainment, that’s how it has been promoted, roughly means a mixture of cricket and entertainment. Colourful dresses, celebrities from different walk of life, loud music and cheerleaders were clubbed with cricket to make it a fun experience. Maybe they weren't aware then of the extraordinary abilities of West Indian players, those big sixes, those turning balls and those funny moves in celebration. Be it Gayle or Bravo going Gangnam or Sammy’s pacifier sucking act, the Windies have emerged as the ultimate entertainers of IPl.
West IndiesPlayers in IPl-6
Sunrisers Hyderabad: Darren Sammy
Rajasthan Royals: Samuel Badree, Kevon Cooper, Fidel Edwards
Royal Challengers Bangalore: Chris Gayle, Ravi Rampaul, Christopher Barnwell
Pune Warriors: Marlon Samuels
Mumbai Indians: Kieron Pollard, Dwayne Smith
Kolkata Knight Riders: Sunil Narine
DelhiDaredevils: Andre Russell
Chennai Super Kings: Dwayne Bravo, Jason Holder