ICC Cricket World Cup 2015, Team Review - West Indies

West Indies Squad for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015: Jason Holder (captain), Marlon Samuels, Sulieman Benn, Darren Bravo, Jonathan Carter, Sheldon Cottrell, Chris Gayle, Nikita Miller, Denesh Ramdin (wk), Kemar Roach, Andre Russell, Darren Sammy, Lendl Simmons, Dwayne Smith, Jerome Taylor

Batting -

Strengths

Chris Gayle, Dwayne Smith and Marlon Samuels will make sure that West Indies get off to fliers! The Lara clone, Darren Bravo, will aim to lend some solidarity to the volatile middle order in the absence of his brother Dwayne. Andre Russel, Sammy and Ramdin can all score at a hectic pace at the back end of the innings.

Weakness

The absence of Dwayne Bravo, probably the most valuable player that West Indies possess will probably be the biggest weakness that this side faces in the 2015 World Cup. Even the other batsmen are so inconsistent that to expect them to regularly post good totals might be nothing short of a miracle.

Rating - 6.5/10

Bowling - 

Strengths

West Indies must play both Benn and Nikita Miller in the warm up games to see who they can rely on once the real games start. Kemar Roach, Taylor and captain Jason Holder will have to bowl out of their skins as they are all battling either injuries or form related issues.

Weakness

The way that these bunch of bowlers got smashed in South Africa recently does not auger well for the West Indies. The pulling out of Narine will further weaken the spirits of West Indies bowlers. They will be under tremendous pressure and the part time bowlers in Sammy, Russel, Galye and Samuels will have to be at their very best to be competitive.

Rating - 6.5/10

Fielding - 

Strengths

West Indies can be a very good fielding side when they want to be, when they are enjoying their battles with the opposition. Thus it will be important for them to not be under pressure but to enjoy the World Cup.

Weakness

The mindset of West Indies Players can be their biggest weakness, sometimes they just seem to be getting bored out on the field and this is when they make a lot of mistakes. Their super athletic fielders Dwayne Bravo and Pollard are also missing in action.

Rating - 6/10

Overall Summary

I do not have any major expectations from the Carribian Kings this time around. The payment fiasco which resulted in them pulling mid-way from the Indian tour seems to be still affecting the players performances on the field. I would not be surprised if they get knocked out in the group stage itself.

Rating - 6/10

Given Below are the other Team Reviews that I have done

Australia
Bangladesh
England
India
New Zealand
Pakistan
South Africa
Sri Lanka