Twice in two games, West Indies were in with a great chance of upsetting South Africa in the T20 series being played in their own backyard. However, on both occasions, they squandered the opportunity, and were left licking their wounds.

This is nothing new to Caribbean cricket, and their unlucky fans, who have to be part of this ignominy time and again. This, indeed, has been the story of Windies cricket for the past decade and a half. And, under the current circumstances, there is very little chance of things improving in the future.

The major problem with West Indies cricket is no so much of talent as it of attitude. As skipper Chris Gayle said after the loss in the second match, the players need to look into themselves and try to redeem themselves.

This wont be easy though as the players have got used to making losing a seriously consistent habit, and mostly from a winning position. There is too much of negativity and lack of confidence around the squad.

What else can explain the inability of their batsmen to chase down 137 and 120 in a T20 game? True, the pitches weren’t exactly the best for T20 cricket. Still, both targets were achievable, more so since they are playing in home conditions.

Coming to the players there is too much dependence on Gayle, another throwback to the 90s when Brian Lara was the sole warrior for the side, and West Indies more often than not needed him to perform miraculous feats to achieve wins.

Despite his experience, Gayle is nowhere near the class of Lara, and lacks his consistency as well, which makes matters far more worse. Thus, every time he fails, the West Indies look like a bunch of players from a minnow side, and slide to embarrassing lows.

The disaster in the T20 World Cup was a glaringly reminder, and the way they have started in the ongoing serious against the Proteas gives one a strong sense of déjà vu.

The saddest part of West Indies never-ending decline is that there is dearth of talent as such in the side, but somehow they just cannot get their act together, or rather are not wholeheartedly dedicated to the cause of reviving their team’s fortunes.

Take the case of Dwayne Bravo. The genuine all-rounder, in spite of all the experienced gained over the years, hasn’t quite turned out to be the match-winner he truly can, and one West Indies desperately need, apart from Gayle. This is not to say that he hasn’t been performing consistently.

He has been among the better performers for his side in recent years. However, he is yet to take the lead to the next level. He is destined for greater things, but keeps falling short just like in the last match, where he top-scored but couldn’t secure the elusive win for his side.

Bravo is not the only one to be blamed for yet another Windies debacle though. The skipper Gayle himself needs to start look beyond batting and inspire some confidence in his rather inexperienced mates. And, for this, he will need the full backing of senior teammates like Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Ramnaresh Sarwan.

All the infighting within the team and issues with the board need to be put on the back burner for a start. What West Indies need most is eleven players who are cent per cent dedicated to the cause of winning. The results might still not come. But, at least the beleaguered fans will be able to appreciate the effort that was put in.

India won the ODI series against West Indies by 2-1

In India won the 4 ODI cricket series in Caribbean against Indies by 2-1 after the final match was expelled due to rain. Caribbean win came after seven years making it historical win over Indies on their own land.

On 5th July Sunday, at Beausejour stadium both team were ready for the final assault. It was do or die situation for Indies as India was leading the series by 2-1. India was also prepared to sway the finals to overpower World T20 Cup catastrophe. But again the Caribbean monsoon played the spoil sport and match has to be dismissed due to heavy downpour. Initially match was delayed before the start and match was reduced to 49 overs per side match.

India won the toss and put the Indies to bat first. Dhoni took the sensible decision to utilize the moisture for taking wickets in the initial overs. Ishant Sharma gave an initial jolt to the Indies by taking the ducked wicket of skipper Chris Gayle. Ramnaresh Sarwan (12) and Runako Morton (12) continued till 7.4 overs at 27 runs off 1 wicket when play was suspended indefinitely by heavy downpour.

Later rainfall stopped but the ground was too wet to continue the game. Umpires decided to wait but soon after two hours they evaluated and declared the outfield unfit and too wet for the game. Consequently India won the series by 2-1 after 7 years and the 5th ODI series win consecutively. Afterwards match ceremony preceded and Indian captain M.S. Dhoni raised the cup.

India back fired in the Caribbean series after it was forced out of the World T20 Championship. Indian fans which were furious because of the early exit of the World T20 now have something to cheer about.

In the first ODI at Kingston India showcased its dexterity in the game but the Indies were also able to came closer to the 340 run target but succumbed just by 20runs. Yuvraj Singh knocked stunning ton proving himself to be match winner for India. The second ODI came as the realization as India was still weaker and some kind of restlessness taking over them when they lost by eight wickets to Indies. Dhoni performed well in the second ODI but of no consequence, his rest of the teammates were not able to support him. In the third ODI Dhoni and his teammates were prepared to back fire and they did. Dhoni again blasted with bat and chased with the stronger hold of nerve, eventually leading for six wickets victory.

India is having lot of player injuries and whole team is retarded due to constant playing. Now soon in September cricket fans going to have ICC Champions Trophy in South Africa. ICC Champions Trophy takes place after every two years, often been won by different side on every occasion. India has bet to make for it but before that they need relaxation. On the other hand Indies need to do homework regarding team planning.

At St Lucia on 3rd July, constant interruptions came as a bane for the Indies and boon for India. In the 3rd ODI of Degicel series India won the rain reduced match according to Duckworth-Lewis method against West Indies leading the series by 2-1. Dhoni holding the nerve firm knocked unbeaten 46 runs guiding India to the victory.

West Indies came to bat first, it was much to their ill fate the constant rain interruptions often lead to discontinuation and regular reduction of overs and runs. Decision was taken by India to put the Indies to bat; decision came as determining factor of the match result and as India anticipated Indies innings were adversely affected by rain.

With the rain interruption of more the 2 hours the game was reduced to 41 overs. Indies powerful opener Chris Gayle came to bat and with his fastidious spree of runs knocked 27 runs off 14 balls which was Indies score also. But as Gayle faced 13 ball rain again interrupted and match has to be put at stop. After a while reducing the overs further to 39 overs, Gayle returned to the pitch, just  on the 14th ball he succumbed to Ashish Nehra(5-21-3wk) delivery being caught behind.

During the Indies innings match was twice again has to be suspended for a while reducing it further to 36 overs then eventual to 27 overs. Despite constant rain intervention Ramnaresh Sarwan on the second wicket blasted 63 runs off 59 balls with 5 boundaries and 1 maximum. Rest onwards Runak Morton (22), Shiv Chanderpaul (15), Dwayne Bravo (19), Darren Bravo (15), Jerome Talyor (2) and not out Denesh Ramdin (14) contributed to the scoreboard aggregating to 186 runs off 27 overs.

Ashish Nehra bowling was the most impressive he was able to beat important batsmen (Gayle, Chanderpaul, Bravo)of Indies. Harbhajan Singh swept away 2 wickets with spin damaging more to Indies; Yusuf Pathan took 1 wicket and rest the Indian bowlers performance was average.

India came to bat to pursue 186 runs target off 27 overs. India score found solid base with the ferocious knocks by Dinesh Karthink (47 runs off 43 balls) and Gautam Gambhir (44 runs off 38 balls) in the top order. Due to fifth rain intervention for indefinite period in the 14th over made it more easier for the India to chase.  After the resumption runs were reduced to 159 runs according to Duckworth-Lewis method and runs left were 64 runs off 51 balls still having 9 wickets in hand it came as a clear advantage to India. Yuvraj Singh (2) and Rohit Sharma (11) were inexpensive even though Indian innings were smooth because of Dhoni’s firm hold of his nerve and aggression leaded India to victory.

West Indies bowlers were not able to put the impressive show as in last match. Bravo, Bernard and Benn took 1-1 wickets.

In the penultimate over when victory seemed far for India, Dhoni ravaged in the last over leading the India in series with 2-1.

The boys from West Indies got the better of the England in a rain-reduced run chase through the Duckworth Lewis method to make it to the semi finals of the T20 WC Men’s competition. They beat the hosts to knock them out of the competition. This is for the first time after a gap of more than ten years that the West Indies team has made it to the Semi Finals of a major tournament.

The experience of Ramnaresh Sarwan and classy Shivnarine Chanderpaul through an unbeaten partnership of 37 runs in 20 balls ensured safe passage for West Indies into the Semifinals. With South Africa having already qualified from this group, the match between England and West Indies was nothing sort of a Quarter Final Clash. The Windies players managed to hold on to their nerves in an intriguing match to make it to the Semi finals of the T20 World Cup competition this year.

Earlier set into bat the Englishmen scored a respectable 161 runs loosing six wickets in the process. Ravi Bopara played the crucial anchor’s role scoring 55 runs and Kevin Pietersen scored a quick fire 31 runs of just 19 balls to set up a challenging total for the West Indies. Other notable contributions included Owais Shah with 18 runs, Stuart Broad with 10 crucial runs of just 2 balls and James Foster with a useful knock of 13 runs towards the end of the innings. The Englishmen were hoping to get a complete match, which might have given them a chance of reaching the semis.

With heavy downpour right after the England innings, the match eventually got underway with West Indies being set a revised target of 80 runs from nine overs. The England bowlers did their best to restrict the Windies batsman as Ryan Sidebottom got rid of the dangerous Chris Gayle, after the opener had hammered him in the first four balls of the over. Stuart Broad got rid of Lendl Simmons in his very first over. West Indies were tottering at 23 for the loss of three wickets and the shortened target was looking stiff.

Dwayne Bravo, the only Windies player to have been consistent throughout the tournament contributed useful 18 runs to the run chase, before the English pair of Swann and Foster combined to remove him. With Bravo gone, the West Indies were looking for some miracle to make it to the next round. With 16 runs required of the last two overs, the experienced pair of Chanderpaul and Sarwan ensured that West Indies suffered no further hiccups in the run chase. By scoring 13 runs of the penultimate over the Windies batsman ended all hopes of an England victory. Sarwan ended the match by smashing Sidebottom to the extra cover boundary.

West Indies thus made it to the Semifinals of the competition through group E and must watch out for the match between South Africa and India, to get to know their fate. If South Africa can beat India, the West Indian team would qualify for the Semi Finals as the Group runner up and might face the daunting task of playing last year’s loosing finalist Pakistan in the Semi finals.