New Zealand vs West Indies 2017: 5 WI players to watch out for in the Test series
The West Indies Test team has been on the road for quite some time now. Since June 2015, they have only played two Test series at home. In fact, in 2017, of the 8 Tests they have played, only 3 have been at home.
They have been severely criticized for their lacklustre performances in the last 2-3 years. However, in the last one year, they have shown significant improvement.
The Windies won Tests in the UAE, England and Zimbabwe in the last year. Even though they won their last Test series against a lowly-ranked Zimbabwean team, it should give them loads of confidence as it was their first Test series win since 2014.
With the improvement the Windies have shown, the two-match series in New Zealand seems to be a very good one. Hence, we look at 5 West Indian players to watch out for.
#5 Kemar Roach
Kemar Roach is one West Indian bowler who can swing the ball at pace, and can bowl quick and with hostility. He has stayed injury-free for the most part of his career thus far. Only in 2014, the fast bowler had to undergo a shoulder surgery.
Roach’s main strength is that he has an easy action and gets the ball to skid through to the batsmen quicker than what they expect. However, he hasn’t quite been able to maintain the consistency he showed early in his career which led to him getting dropped in early 2016.
But a successful comeback in England in August earlier this year helped him cement his spot once again. He might not have picked up a lot of wickets but he bowled some hostile spells and helped in West Indies’ win at Headingley. He carried his form to Zimbabwe, were he picked up 8 wickets on spin-friendly surfaces.
Thus, an aggressive and in-form Kemar Roach is certainly one of the key members of this Windies side and one of the players to watch out for.