Well the world is still aware of the way most of the senior West Indian cricketers went on strike at this time last year owing to some disputes regarding the contract of the players. This in turn made way for the young legs from the Caribbean to make it to the playing XI no matter what the result of the match or the series had to say. West Indies became the first test playing nation to not only lose a test and a one day series to Bangladesh but also became the first ever team to get whitewashed by Bangladesh. And what is worse! This happened to the West Indians on their home ground.Now, ahead of West Indies' series against South Africa that is due in a week, Chris Gayle has threatened his fellow teammates to breathe their last in West Indies cricket in case they fail to perform in the upcoming series against South Africa. It was the very same West Indian in Chris Gayle who had predicted a 4-1 series win for his team over Australia in Australia in the five match one day series played earlier this year. Whatever, personal views stand apart unless they are proved wrong and Chris Gayle happened to be one or another such lad who made a meaningless statement.Whatever, coming to Chris Gayle's current statement wherein he warns his under performers especially batsmen to quit in case they fail to be upto the mark in the upcoming series against the Proteas. It is more of a reality that the Chris Gayle led West Indies team is bound to crash this time as well like it has been happening since almost a decade against South Africa. And the funny aspect of all these is that the first culprit for the West Indies' team's debacle happens to be Chris Gayle himself. In that case, the very first player to be shown the doors would have to be Gayle himself before anybody else.No doubt that Gayle is the only answer in today's West Indian cricket for he along with Chanderapaul form almost 75% of their batting though not being able to win games for West Indies but save some face for them by reducing the margin of defeat from a miserable one to a healthy defeat. In case Gayle's words are really meant and the WICB takes the step of banning under performers, one can imagine the fate of the team which would not be different from the one that faced lost to Bangladesh last year. Putting it simple, what can one do when there is such a scarcity of talent in the West Indies team. Of course, banning is not the solution, in case of any doubt, ask PCB.
If the ICC's tours table is given a close look at, one can see the way the minnows are sidelined. Nevermind that they can hardly draw crowds to the stadiums or provoke people to leave their jobs and watch them play on their television sets. However, if the first and the only T20 international between Bangladesh and New Zealand are considered, the series consists of just one T20 match that is followed by three one dayers and 2 test matches. Likewise, tours involving stronger teams would include 3 test matches five one day games and 2 T20 games off late. Even if the recent past is considered, there have been series' between South Africa & England, Australia & Pakistan, India & Sri Lanka which consisted of 4 tests+5 ODIs+2 T20s, 3 tests+ 5ODIs+1T20 and 3 tests+5ODIs+2T20 games respectively. And Bangladesh were scheduled to play only 2 test matches against India on their home tour recently. Previous to that, Bangladesh played 5 one dayers against Zimbabwe, the result of which is not the million dollar question of the day whatsoever. Is it because Zimbabwe and Bangladesh stand at the same level in international that ICC plans schedules for Bangladesh in such a way?It is an undisputed fact that Bangladesh are best suited for teams like Zimbabwe, Kenya etc who can make the Bangladeshis confident about their cricket. But, if that is the case, why did the ICC grant Bangladesh a test status when they hardly have been displaying some decent knocks even in T20 cricket. If the first and the only T20 game that was held at Hamilton yesterday is considered, as expected, Bangladesh could not win. That is not the issue here but, imagine a run rate of 4.45 in a T20 game. T20 game I suppose is the same for all teams including Bangladesh.Bangladesh should have atleast played their full quota of 20 overs. Bangladesh are found to play better one day and test cricket compared to their test cricket. They have been able to defeat West Indies in the inaugural edition of the T20 world cup held at South Africa to enter the super eights. But in the next edition, they couldn't even pull a win against Ireland. They had to face the depleted West Indies team to register their first test series win other than the one against Zimbabwe. So was the case in their one day series' as well. This can be concluded that Bangladesh just want to keep playing cricket and win only when the opposition is weak.
