West Indies, who are presently known as Windies, was the two-time World Cup champions and two-time World T20 champions. But in present, they are facing huge downgraded form in the longer formats. As a result, Windies failed to earn a direct qualification for the 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup and now they have to play the World Cup qualifiers to qualify for the upcoming CWC.
Former West Indies captain and legendary batsman Brian Lara is hopeful for the Caribbean team to qualify for the 2019 ICC CWC. On Monday, Lara told The Age, “It’s a situation where I think the boys have no choice, we have to pull it through. It (ICC rankings) is set up in such a way that we were out of that place (automatically qualifying) so we have to qualify. But it doesn’t mean we can’t get there, we have to get there.”
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Lara added the history of the Caribbean cricket in the big tournaments. He said, “We have a very good record in the Champions Trophy and we didn’t have the opportunity to play (last year). The World Cup is a different story, obviously. It is something much more important. History in that particular tournament is very strong, especially in the early part of it, the first three or four World Cups.”
The 2018 ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifiers will be played in Zimbabwe from 4th March to 25th March. Total 10 teams will participate in this tournament including the hosts Zimbabwe and Windies. The other eight teams are Ireland, Afghanistan, Netherlands, Scotland, Hong Kong, Papua New Guinea (PNG), Nepal and United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Among these ten teams, only two teams will qualify for the 2019 ICC CWC. So, it will be a very tough contest for Windies.
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Since the inception of T20 cricket, the Caribbean side observed their major downfall in the other cricket formats. However, Lara is not worried about the Caribbean cricket future. The 48-years old batting legend said, “I don’t think anything is going to happen to the sport. Cricket has taken a different turn since the invention of T20. It’s actually turned cricket on its head in the Caribbean in terms of understanding the importance of Test cricket and the forms of the game.”
Lara also added that it would be a huge disappointment if Windies fail to qualify for the 2019 ICC CWC. He said, “So T20 on its own has created a different spectator and different cricketer and that is going to evolve. The World Cup (if Windies doesn’t qualify), it would be a huge disappointment … I don’t want to think beyond that. The tournament is in front of the boys in Zimbabwe at present and they have got to pull it through.”
