West Indies got off to a winning start to their ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 Qualifiers campaign by beating the USA by 39 runs. Their formidable performance once again showed why they are the front-runners to qualify for the World Cup later this year.
It was rather disappointing for the West Indies to not be able to directly qualify for the World Cup. However, there has been some transition in the team as they look to build on and get among the top sides again.
On that note, let’s take a look at three reasons why West Indies are still favorites to qualify for the ODI World Cup in India later this year:
#3 Great depth in quality
The men from the Caribbean have a number of players in their squad who, on their day, can single-handedly win the game for the team. The likes of Nicholas Pooran, Rovman Powell, Jason Holder, etc. have that match-winning ability and the latter also won the Player of the Match against USA.
They also have some quality options in the bowling department with young Alzarri Joseph growing from strength to strength with each game. The presence of a number of all-rounders gives the Windies depth in the batting department and also captain Shai Hope a number of bowling options to work with.
#2 No substitute for experience
While most of the teams may have a few players who can deliver under pressure, West Indies seem to have them in abundance. There is a great mix of youth and experience and that could just be the way to go for them when they encounter a crunch situation.
The likes of Pooran and Holder have played enough cricket to understand how to adapt their game to the situation. Both having captained the team before also helps the current skipper Shai Hope with a strong leadership group in place alongside Rovman Powell, who is the current T20I captain.
#1 West Indies had a similar situation in 2019
Arguably the biggest plus point for the West Indies is that they had also played the Qualifiers for the 2019 World Cup, that too in Zimbabwe itself. It means that some of them who were a part of the previous campaign might have found it a bit easier to get used to the conditions.
Having been in that situation before would have given them a sense of confidence that they can once again go out, express themselves and get the points on the board needed to qualify for the World Cup.
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