West Indies pulled off a huge victory over the Aussies in the last T20I series and now are off and running after they crushed Australia 4-1 who were playing without some of their key players but that doesn't take away the credit of this Caribbean side who were absolutely outstanding.
If we check the last 5 T20I series that West Indies have featured in, they have won 3 of them where they played a total of 18 games and won 10 out of it. Though, they lost 2-3 to South Africa in a closely fought series, which was the comeback series for some of their key players who were otherwise dropped from the squad for some reasons or the other.
What makes Windies the hot favorites for this year's T20 World Cup?
1) Comeback of some of their T20 giants in the side, the likes of D Bravo, A Russell and C Gayle brings in lots of experience and makes the side even stronger than before.
2) Destructive left-handed trio in their line up in the likes of E Lewis, S Hetmyer and N Pooran who are capable of scoring at quick rate from the word go and these youngsters can destroy any bowling line up on a given day.
3) Some of the World's best allrounders who can do wonders with both the bat and ball in the likes of K Pollard, D Bravo, A Russell and F Allen which provides much needed balance in the middle and the inclusion of this players make their batting go as deep as number 9-10 and also gives the captain the crucial cushion of extra overs when needed.
4) Combination of young and experienced fast bowlers along with the spinning duo of F Allen and H Walsh. They have some quality fast bowlers in the form of F Edwards, O McCoy, S Cottrell , A Joseph and O Thomas
5) Last but not the least, the leadership of Kieron Pollard. He's brought the team together and has gained the faith of the fans back when a year ago, no one would have given West Indies a chance who will now enter the World Cup as hot favourites. Pollard has played a huge role in bringing back the experienced guys and build a strong team for T20 World Cup ever since he became the T20I captain. His batting and bowling have improved as well. Before becoming the captain, Pollard had 903 runs to his name in 62 odd games with a below par average of 21.50 with a strike rate of just 125 but since he became the captain he has scored 440 runs at an improved average of 34 with the strike rate being 172 . Pollard who once had almost stopped bowling has improved his bowling too, he has accounted for 15 wickets at an average of 22 with the best of 4/25 since becoming the skipper. His slower ones can come handy on the sluggish UAE tracks and he was recently even spotted bowling off-spin in the 3rd ODI against Australia.
All in all, West Indies have got 11 'Champions' in their side and all we expect them is to play as a unit and if they are able to do so we might as well see the trophy in their hands for the record third time as they have already stated the world that 'THE MIGHTY WEST INDIES ARE BACK'.
