SHAMAR RAISES HOPES FOR WEST INDIES CRICKET

The 2023-24 West Indies tour in Australia where the two teams played two tests and three ODIs and will soon play 3T20Is(on 9th,11th and 13th February) the second test match of the test series, which was played at Gabba, Brisbane, during 25th-29th January of the new year, indicated a revival in West Indies’ cricketing fortunes.

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During the 70s and 80s, West Indies literally ruled the cricketing world and were almost invincible, but those days of glory, led by batting giants Clive Lloyd and Vivian Richards, are now long over two editions of the Men’s ODI World Cup (in 1975 and 1979) and was the runnersup in the third (1983), which India won.

For more than a decade, West Indies’s performances in tests and ODIs have been worse than dismal. Nowadays West Indies cricket teams are being battered by their opponents with alarming frequency and what is more embarrassing that West Indies couldn’t even qualify for the 2023 Men’s ODI World Cup.

In the second test of the just concluded test series between Australia and the West Indies, a 24-yearold young fast bowler named Shamar Joseph has brought a glimmer of hope for the future of West Indies cricket, which is going through a lean phase for more than a decade. Playing only his second test match, he took a spectacular 7 for 68 to demolish the strong Australian batting line up, which was instrumental in scripting a 8-run victory for West Indies at Gabba.