Why has West Indies cricket team lost its magic?
Two time World Cup and World T20 champions West Indies have lost their glory in the cricketing world. While they are ranked ninth in the world, the magic of the Windies cricket has gone, even though their players continue to dominate cricket around the world. Let us have a look at what led to the drop in Windies' cricket glory.
Board's fallout with the players
The West Indies Cricket Board has not been on good terms with the players from past couple of years. Former Windies captain Darren Sammy had expressed his disappointment with the board after their World T20 win last year. West Indies cricketers have failed to play in the domestic tournaments, and have instead chosen to play in the cash-rich T20 tournaments all over the world.
Top Windies cricketers do not play domestic tournament, so what?
According to a clause for national team selection, a cricketer has to play in the domestic tournaments in the format they want to play for national team. While they participate in T20 league, Caribbean Premier League, very few participate in first-class and one-day tournaments.
Fallout with Chris Gayle: A major turn in Windies cricket
After the poor show of the West Indies cricket team in the 2011 ICC World Cup, the board decided to bring in youngsters in the team as a part of preparation for the next 2015 World Cup. This led to expulsion of star batsman Chris Gayle from the team for over a year, with the relationship worsening more in the latter years.
Senior players dropped over dispute
West Indies Cricket Board has been going through financial crunch since a long time now, leading to non-payments to their players. The West Indies cricket team in 2014 had abandoned the India tour in middle, after the board failed to pay them their fees. After criticizing the board publicly, senior players like Dwayne Bravo, Chris Gayle, Darren Sammy were dropped from the team.
