Royston Crandon Backing Windies For World Cup T20 Title

By Ravendra Madholall
Former Guyana and West Indies batsman Royston Crandon is batting for West Indies at the International Cricket Council T20 World Cup which is set to begin on Sunday in Dubai. West Indies, the defending champions, will open their campaign against nemesis England on October 23rd.

The hard-hitting Crandon, who only attired in a solitary one-day international for the regional side against India in South Africa, 2009, believes West Indies are capable of repeating the championship. He also reiterated the importance of consistency in both departments of the game at this mega event. “I [am] absolutely confident West Indies can be the victorious side at this world cup; I think they are capable of retaining the title as well because they have got a good team to do it,” Crandon mentioned.

Quizzed on the combination of the side which is loaded with a plethora of T20 specialists, Crandon revealed they have the firepower to make headlines in Dubai. “Yes, obviously, the team is well-balanced and they have a lot of experienced T20 players and that will give them a psychological boost to come out on top, it is just a matter of positive cricket,” Crandon, who was also seen as a versatile all-rounder during his representation for Guyana, related.

West Indies will certainly bank on their ‘Big-Name’ players to make an impression in their Group 1 which consists of Australia and South Africa as the other heavyweights. “West Indies have some quality players who might be under pressure because they are defending champions and many fans would want to see them lifting the trophy again but this version really suits West Indies and I am very optimistic they will give 100 percent efforts,” the right-handed Crandon commented.

The Caribbean unit will be led by pugnacious middle-order batsman Kieran Pollard and he will have his Trinidadian compatriot Nicolas Pooran as his deputy. Pooran is also a world-class T20 belligerent batsman and expectation is high he can be a dominant batsman.

Other high-profile players like Andre Russell, Chris Gayle, Dwayne Bravo, Shimron Hetmyer are fascinating T20 athletes, too and the cricketing fraternity will be anxious to view some scintillating displays for them. The final is slated for November 14.