ICC World Cup 2015: Biggest problems for the top 8 teams

Even with your New Year’s pledge to stay away from cricket and focus more on studies, even with your colleagues raving about Louis van Gaal’s strategies more than anything else, even with India’s Leander Paes triumphing the Australian Open mixed doubles with Martina Hingis, you have been secretly keeping track of the approaching ICC World Cup and perhaps placing bets on teams’ chances.As the handful of cricketing nations gear up for the big tournament, I provide you a last-minute review of the foremost problem areas for the top eight teams in accordance to their latest ICC ODI rankings.

#8 West Indies - lack of quality options

If performances leading to the World Cup are anything to go by, West Indies appear to be the least equipped in handling pressure at the biggest stage. While most will be inclined to predict a quarter-final berth, this mercurial team does possess every ingredient of pulling off a shocker and surrendering meekly to one of the minnows in the group stage.

The relationship between the board and the players isnt under any concealment with the latter advocating their support for the excluded duo of Dwayne Bravo and Kieron Pollard publicly. Such off-fieldtensioncouldve either initiated an amplified positive on-field result or worsened the already bad. Under the rookie skipper, Jason Holder, West Indies settled for the latter against South Africa.

In spite of Chris Gayles presence and Marlon Samuelss reassurance, the batting remains unflattering, although not as much as the bowling Nikita Miller, Sulieman Benn, Jerome Taylor, Kemar Roach, Johnathan Cottrell and Darren Sammy hardly pack a punch. Sunil Narines absence, no doubt, is going to be felt.

The lack of depth in both the departments and the scarcity of options so much so that Ramnaresh Sarwan was in the scheme of things till mid 2013 coupled with the ineffectiveness of the hit-or-miss policy ofGayle and Andre Russell in the large Australian grounds are bound to supply the Caribbean team with plenty of setbacks once the Cup begins.