Together with England, tournament co-hosts West Indies are the only team to have won two Men’s T20 World Cups in the history of the competition. Expectations are high for the Rovman Powell–led squad, not only because they have the home-field advantage but also due to their recent successful performances leading up to the event.
Their latest victory was a 3-0 whitewash against South Africa, and they have also secured wins against India and the defending T20 World Cup champions England in recent months, along with a win against Australia in Australia.
Captain Powell remains quietly confident as the event approaches, ready to embrace the expectations and pressures of hosting a home World Cup while also savoring the historic opportunity ahead for his team.
“I think it’s a mixture of both [challenge and expectation],” Powell remarked. “It’s definitely a challenge. Playing in front of your home crowd can be both advantageous and disadvantageous.
“But we’re focusing on the positives and believe that the fans will come out eagerly, hoping that we’ll play excellent cricket to entertain them.”
Powell reflected on the team’s good fortune, which has elevated them to fourth place in the Men’s Team T20I Rankings before the tournament.
“And I think over the last 12 months or so, we have played some excellent cricket worldwide. This has improved our T20 rankings to fourth in the world.
“It’s a team full of confidence. It’s a team that understands and knows how to play T20 cricket. So hopefully, during this World Cup, we can demonstrate that.”
While explosive batting and fierce pace have long been hallmarks of West Indian cricket, this time the team will rely heavily on their spinners for success in the tournament. Given the slow and low pitches in the Caribbean, the Windies might feature three spinners: Gudakesh Motie, Akeal Hosein, and Roston Chase.
All three have performed well in recent matches, and Powell has high expectations for them in the competition.
“I am very, very pleased to have three quality spinners at this moment. It’s not often that our West Indies team is selected with three quality spinners. This excites me greatly.
“Times may come when they might not play. But having them available is very, very important for us.”
The co-hosts will start their campaign against Papua New Guinea. This will be the first encounter between the two teams.
PNG captain Assad Valla is eager to play against full member nations, whom he described as “one of the powers in cricket.”
Valla‘s team participated in the 2021 T20 World Cup, but the captain believes that PNG has a more stable squad this time.
“I think there’s more experience in the team. The preparation has been different from the last World Cup, which was held during COVID.
“We didn’t play any international cricket for 12 to 18 months before that World Cup. But there are no excuses, as other teams went through the same situation.
“So, for us, the experience we gained from that [tournament], having a different coaching staff, and having a more settled team than last time makes me really happy with the squad we have assembled for this tournament.”
Both West Indies and PNG are in Group C alongside New Zealand, Afghanistan, and Uganda.
