WI may require strategy rethink, says Gibson

HOBART, Australia (CMC):

Ottis Gibson, one of the architects of West Indies’ Twenty20 World Cup in 2012, believes the Caribbean side may require a rethink of strategy in order to find success again in the shortest format.

West Indies beat Sri Lanka in the 2012 final and returned to edge England in the 2016 final in a dramatic finish but have since fallen down the pecking order and are ranked number seven in the International Cricket Council charts.

In last year’s edition, West Indies lost four of five first-round matches to miss out on the semi-finals and automatic qualification for this year’s tournament.

“I think what they did in recent World Cups can be done again,” said Gibson, the current head coach of Yorkshire County in England.

“West Indies needed personnel changes – which have obviously happened – but then perhaps the strategy also needs to change.

“They need to look at whether they are getting the best out of the players they have because in people like Nicholas Pooran and Jason Holder, we have world-class players.”

He continued: “I feel like West Indies are at that stage at the moment where they need to relook the strategy that they’re using with the personnel that they have right now.

“I still feel like they have fantastic T20 players who can be world-class. And when it comes to T20 World Cups, you can never discount West Indies – I don’t believe so.”

West Indies have travelled to this year’s T20 World Cup with a relatively inexperienced unit, leaving behind the likes of superstars Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, and Shimron Hetmyer.

The move by selectors was a departure from the 2021 policy, which saw emphasis placed on senior players, the likes of Chris Gayle, Dwayne Bravo and Ravi Rampaul all included in the squad at the expense of younger, in-form players.

Gibson, head coach of West Indies for the 2012 triumph, said the recall of these experienced players had come at a point when their impact on a “fast-moving” game was already diminishing.

“T20 cricket is so fast-moving. You have to decide how you’re going to win games. T20 games are also won in the field,” Gibson, a former West Indies fast bowler, told ESPN Cricinfo.

“If your squad is ageing, then that will catch up with you. That squad was an ageing squad. And while experience matters, the game changes very quickly, and you have to be able to keep moving your squad along with the game.”

West Indies are not among the favourites for the showpiece which, got under way on Sunday with the qualifiers at Bellerive Oval, but Gibson said they remained a dangerous side.

“They’ve got world-class players. Hopefully, they can find a way to come together as a group and understand how each person needs to play their part,” he said.

“I feel like they’ve got a great chance. Like I said, you can never discount West Indies.”