5 current cricket facts that no fan could have predicted 20 years ago
Twenty years ago, thanks to satellite TV, cricket slowly but surely began spreading its wings across the world. Pakistan was savoring its World Cup win in Australia and Sri Lanka was at the cusp of achieving the impossible. White ball cricket was starting to dominate the game and limited overs cricket in the form of ODI was gaining in popularity. The run rates were skyrocketing and ODI teams had begun to breach the 300 run barrier.It was the early nineties and an off-spinning wizard from the island nation of Sri Lanka had emerged to lock horns with Australia’s spinning sensation in Shane Warne. It was also the time when two young batsmen had captured the imagination of fans the world over. Sachin Tendulkar and Brian Lara would carry the fortunes of their team’s for years to come.Precedence’s were being set and the old order was being laid to rest. That said, if a cricket fan in 1995 were to peek into a crystal ball while aspiring to witness what the future held, he/she would perhaps be in for a rude shock. For what the future had in store was far beyond the fan’s imagination.Here are five current cricketing facts that no fan could have predicted twenty years ago.
#5 West Indies being knocked out of the Champions Trophy
Consider this - the West Indies won the Cricket World Cup in 1975 and 1979 and through the 1980s were recognized as unofficial world champions. Their team composition was quite simple - four menacing fast bowlers and the best batsmen in the world. A recipe for success so simple yet so potent that teams shuddered with the thought of facing up to the formidable men from the Caribbean.
The eighties was also the period when the West Indies tasted unprecedented success in Test cricket. Their then-record of 11 consecutive Test victories had two five-love series results against England.
Should an ecstatic West Indian fan from the eighties have fast forwarded to present times, he would be jolted to hear that the current side has failed to qualify for the 2017 Champions Trophy - nudged aside by Bangladesh. Since their decline began in the late 1990s, things have gone from bad to worse for the Caribbean side.
When Darren Sammy’s side won the 2012 World Twenty20, a revival seemed to be around the corner. However, player contracts rows and chaotic management has plagued West Indian cricket. The suspension of coach Phil Simmons over his criticism of team selection only adds to the woes.
The West Indies’ failure to qualify marks the first time that they would have missed out on any of world Cricket’s big limited-over events. It certainly is a crushing indictment for a side that is just one of three teams to have won all three titles - the World Cup in 1975 and 1979, the Champions Trophy in 2004 and the World Twenty20 in 2012.