By Neto Baptiste
Former West Indies captain and legendary batsman, Sir Vivian Richards, has rubbished the notion that West Indies players are not talented enough to compete on the international stage.
Speaking recently on the Good Morning Jojo sports show, the Antiguan who has scored 8,540 runs in 121 Tests and another 6,721 in 187 ODI matches, posited that West Indies players are just as talented and just as mentally sound but must find a way to get the job done as a unit rather than as individuals.
“These individuals should have that because they are experienced enough so this shouldn’t be something we are talking about. We’ve seen them in other formats in other parts of the world performing and we know that they have talent but they just have not been able to jell well enough and to get the coordination well enough for them to get it done,” he said.
His statement follows the team’s dismal showings in both the Test and ODI series against India here in the Caribbean.
Admitting that the team’s performance has seemingly deteriorated further over the last few months, Sir Viv believes now is the time for some serious roundtable discussions with all stakeholders regarding the way forward.
“I don’t think we are where we should be, our level has dropped big time and it’s just an opportunity for us now to see where it’s at and all the stakeholders involved for us to decide that this is a do or die situation where West Indies cricket is concerned and it’s for us to try and come up with the various ways on how we can solve that and help to improve the administrating and all the stuff it takes for a team to be successful,” he said.
West Indies, on Thursday, took a one-nil lead in their five-match T20 International Series with an exciting four-run triumph in Trinidad.