By KEVIN SUNICH Saturday, August 11 2012

FORMER West Indies wicket keeper Deryck Murray feels the regional team is in with a very good chance of taking the ICC World T20 set for September 18 in Sri Lanka.

A number of international players have also touted the West Indies as the top team for the tournament. Murray however, feels that the combination of players will have a lot to do with the team’s chances.

“We have the type of squad that can do extremely well in the shorter form of the game and I am confident that the team will do well at this tournament”, said former wicket keeper.

A few persons in the cricketing circles have credited the Windies players’ performance in this format of the game.

The latest to hint this was Venky Mysore CEO of the Kolkatta Knight Riders who tweeted “WI looking better by the match. Expect them to do well in T20WC. Chris Gayle, Dwayne Bravo, Sunil Narine, Kieron Pollard and Andre Russell have added depth. Some credit to IPL”

Murray however, opposed this, saying the credit should go to the players, however, he feels the exposure from the IPL and CLT20 tournaments will position them perfectly for the world t20. “At the end of the day it was these players own talent that came through in the regional tournaments in the Caribbean. The only reason we would have them on contracts is because they are good players. The IPL did not take substandard players and made them good” said the former TTCB president.

Most of the West Indies core players have plied their trade in the IPL and Murray feels they are at an advantage. “These players have all been able to play regular with or against some of the other top T20 international players. As a result they will definitely feel at home playing against them in the world cup, which is a big plus for the region”

Australian all-rounder Shane Watson in June told an Indian online newspaper that the West Indies are the favourites. “I actually think the West Indies are going to be the team to beat”, Watson told ICC Cricket 360. “They have got a really well- balanced team that has played a lot of high quality Twenty20 cricket around the world, and they certainly know how to perform under pressure. I think they have got the firepower to give a lot of teams a big surprise”.

West Indies World T20 30-man provisional squad has nine players with IPL experience and seven with CLT20 experience.



The WICB’s 30-man squad. Samuel Badree, Christopher Barnwell, Carlton Baugh, Sulieman Benn, Tino Best, Devendra Bishoo, Nkrumah Bonner, Carlos Brathwaite, Darren Bravo, Dwayne Bravo, Johnson Charles, Fidel Edwards, Chris Gayle, Danza Hyatt, Garey Mathurin, Nikita Miller, Sunil Narine, Kieron Pollard, Kieran Powell, Denesh Ramdin, Ravi Rampaul, Kemar Roach, Andre Russell, Darren Sammy, Marlon Samuels, Krishmar Santokie, Shane Shillingford, Lendl Simmons, Dwayne Smith, Devon Thomas.