What has gone wrong with the West Indies team, which everybody once feared

There was a time once everybody in the cricketing world used to fear the West Indies team. They were named as Calypso Kings and were truly the kings of the game. They used to rip apart many teams and playing against West Indies was considered as the hardest task to accomplish.

When World Cup was introduced in the game of Cricket, West Indies went on to dominate the world with their class apart batting equally complemented by the fiery bowling. They claimed 2 back to back World Cup and were heavy favorites to win a third too, where they eventually lost to India in the finals, but what followed was decline of West Indies cricket which is still in process as the Calypso kings have lost their throne and reputation that they once used to hold. The team has become a mere T20 Specialist which is a more glamorous version of the game, but has been dormant when it comes to Test and ODI.

Contrasting fortunes

The West Indies Test Team in the 70s and 80s was feared and had some star players and the change in the fortunes of the West Indies team can be immediately spotted on the stats as the West Indies team had a record winning percentage in Test Cricket which has declined steadily and the same has been echoed in ODIs too. The West Indies team since 2000 has lost 161 ODI matches against the top seeded teams and has only won 72 games which clearly show their inferiority.

All rounder’s Era

Perhaps the biggest problem with the West Indies cricket is that it has only produced all rounder’s that are perfectly suited for T20 cricket. Test and ODI needs specialists and on that front the West Indies cricket has failed miserably as the team is only flooded with all rounder’s while it needs specialist batsman and bowlers.

Conflict with the board

Another important problem is that the West Indies senior cricketers have been continuously indulged in a Conflict with WICB over their pay which has also resulted in selection of substandard teams which have shown poor performances.

Club vs Country

This is another huge problem as because the West Indies cricketers favor their club over their country as they are paid highly at the clubs. This has encouraged many youngsters to pursue T20 Cricket as they will be able to earn more money in the future as compared to Test or ODI.