In cricket, adjusting to foreign conditions is very important for a team.
Therefore, many teams scheduled tours in or around England to acclimatise to their unfamiliar surroundings just before the World Cup.
The West Indies and Bangladesh are currently playing a tri-series in Ireland, while Pakistan is battling England on their home turf. Afghanistan also toured Scotland to play two ODIs, winning the short series 1-0.
The West Indies’ performance in the Ireland tri-series is worth analysing.
They are not playing with their full World Cup squad in this series, with players like Chris Gayle, Andre Russell and Shimron Hetmyer set to join their team-mates in the UK shortly before the tournament.
Chris Gayle. (AP Photo/Rajanish Kakade)
In their absence, Shai Hope, Roston Chase and Jason Holder took the responsibility of leading the batting line-up.
Currently, Shai Hope is the leading run-getter in this series with 396 runs at an average of 99 in four matches.
The West Indies have lost two games against Bangladesh in Ireland, and although they’ve won their two matches against the hosts, one of those clashes could have easily gone the other way.
A century by Sunil Ambris – who is not part of the World Cup squad – helped them to chase 328 runs successfully.
Looking at the current performances, the worry for the West Indies is the lack of wickets from their pace bowlers. Remember, the same bowling unit will be bowling in the World Cup.
The good thing for the Windies will be the addition of Russell and Oshane Thomas, which will give them more options when the tournament begins.
Further, they will be playing one warm-up game against South Africa on May 26. Here they will get to see the form of Gayle, Thomas and other players that are only joining the squad at the last minute.
With only two games left before the World Cup, the West Indies would want to rectify the current issues – and they will want their spinners to keep up their excellent form during the World Cup.
They would also want Darren Bravo to score some runs in the tri-series final against Bangladesh. This will provide him and the team with a huge confidence boost.
For the West Indies, this tri-series is a good reality check just before the mega event.
Parth Baxi
Roar Rookie
Yes, this bowling unit can be dangerous when they get some movement after pitching the ball with some pace.
Parth Baxi
Roar Rookie
I think the result of the final between both these teams will play a huge role mentally. Bangladesh would like to enter the World Cup with some positive result on their back. On the other side, West Indies did all the hard work in the series against England and just before World Cup losing against Bangladesh may affect their confidence. However, things will change when Gayle, Russell and Hetmyer will join the squad.
Paul
Roar Guru
Good work on your first article Parth. It's hard to know what to make of the WI results from Ireland for a whole lot of reasons, some of which you mentioned. West Indian cricket thrives on confidence and only Asian sides like Pakistan, Sri Lanka, etc are similar. That means NOT having all the top players in the squad will have affected their confidence for sure. Then there are the conditions which are chalk & cheese compared to England. Apart from the pitches which aren't the same, the WI team can expect huge support from expats when they play in the World Cup and again, that helps their confidence. Finally, their bowling has not been great in recent times at ODI level, hence their current ICC ranking. I think they'll be far better suited to the tracks in England than the much slower pitches in Ireland. Remember too, this same attack had the top ranked side all out for 132 less than 6 months ago. Granted the conditions were different, but these guys are not completely hopeless. The Windies were always going to start as outsiders for this years Cup, but if they get on a roll and their confidence goes up, there's not a team in world cricket they can't beat. Just ask the Poms.
Neel
Roar Guru
The West Indies bowling attack does look suspect. Most of the bowlers don’t have great records. That could be an area of concern for the Windies. Bangladesh are a decent limited overs outfit but I didn’t expect the Windies to lose two games against them.