Is West Indies’ elimination from the T20 World Cup good or bad for World Cricket?

It’s a partly cloudy/ partly sunny evening in Australia. But people in Ireland have just started a bright and sunny day whereas the Caribbean had dark skies over them, late past midnight.

The atmosphere in the respective camps at the Bellerive Oval in Hobart was quite similar to the daytime back at their homes. The Irishmen ensured bright sunshine on their cricket, while darkness loomed over the West Indies cricket.

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Ireland had never made it to the second round of a World Cup after 2009, but they did. West Indies had never been eliminated in the first round of the World Cup, but they did. Ireland changed the power dynamics of T20I cricket, probably forever.

West Indies: Fall from grace as two-time T20 World Cup champions fail to make main round

Ireland defeated West Indies in their final Group A contest of the 2022 T20 World Cup. It wasn’t the first time that the Irishmen had gotten the better of a more celebrated team, but this was different. This time, they had, by defeating a more pronounced team, eliminated, the only team to have won the T20 World Cup twice, out of the tournament.

Ireland, albeit, had vanilla ending to their victory. They needed eight runs of 28 balls to seal the victory. But Paul Stirling and Lorcan Tucker collected just two more runs in the four remaining balls of the 16^th over and inched four runs closer in the 17^th over. Stirling continued his slower version and took one run from the first two balls of the 18^th. Tucker was tired by then and decided to end it with a lofted slice over the cover-point region for a boundary on the offside.

The batters in the middle hugged each other. There were some fist bumps and hugs in the dugout. The players also waved at their fans in the stadium and let Paul Stirling lead the team out of the field, but there were no wild celebrations. No fancy dances, no wild running, and no over-aggressive display of emotions. Probably, they expected it to turn out the way it did. Probably, they did not consider it to be an upset.

Although West Indies’ ouster from the World Cup this early was shocking for the cricketing world, the manner in which Ireland thumped them, shall definitely not be considered as an upset.

West Indies themselves have been out of their mojo for quite a while, being on a losing spree in T20Is. They had won only seven out of 24 games since the 2021 World Cup, coming into the eighth edition. Their problem against spin was exposed in all three games and they were undoubtedly easier to defeat.

Ireland, on the other hand, have always been knocking on the doors of the big teams every now and then. They would always set a foot in the door but were not really able to go through it. However, this time, they have managed to break the door down and enter the big league.

The question that arises after the ouster of West Indies is, whether it is good or bad for world cricket. Former Australia legend Ricky Ponting has it answered and has termed the debacle as a disgrace.

While it is really bad for West Indies cricket, the same cannot be said for world cricket. World cricket should be happy about Ireland making their way ahead of West Indies. For once, cricket has found its solace and audience for a larger part of the tournament in a relatively new territory, which otherwise would be relevant only for two or three days.

The power dynamics in T20I cricket have finally changed and once upon a time heavyweights are now downtrodden (West Indies had won only one out of five matches in the Super 12 stage of the 2021 World Cup).

West Indies will have to do a bit of soul-searching on different terms. The Cricket West Indies chief, in a statement in the aftermath of their exit, said that West Indies Cricket is more important than any one individual.

Hence, they probably left out Shimron Hetmyer after missing a flight to Australia, and stars like Andre Russell and Sunil Narine were not around the T20I cricket setup, even for a tournament as big as the World Cup. Considering the dire state they are in, can they afford the audacity to leave those players out, or negotiating a way out would be beneficial? A cricket-loving Caribbean territory can surely do better.

T20 is the most vibrant format in the cricketing world currently. And West Indies losing out in such a manner in their preferred format is undoubtedly saddening. But a new team emerging in the format after dishing out an empirically prominent team should be a thing to cherish for world cricket.

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