World Cup 2019: Anil Kumble feels Chris Gayle and Andre Russell will guide Windies to last 4

The West Indies team has had a resurgence of sorts across formats ever since their glory days ended. Under the captaincy of Jason Holder, the team made it to the quarter-finals of the ICC World Cup 2015. But at the same time, they had to play World cup qualifiers to make it into the 2019 edition of ICC event.

However, this time, they have a wonderful blend of experience and youth with Chris Gayle, Andre Russell, Kemar Roach teaming up with likes of Shai Hope, Shannon Gabriel, Fabien Allen, and Shimron Hetmyer. They beat England in the Test series at home and recently had success in the tri-series against Ireland and Bangladesh, making it into the finals.

Former India bowler Anil Kumble has analyzed the West Indies World Cup squad for CricketNext and came out with some interesting observations and also gave out his final opinion on the journey of the team in the ICC World Cup 2019.

Bowling is the weak link for Windies, says Kumble

Anil Kumble was excited to see the success that West Indies team has had in the recent past in all formats, with two World T20 title wins and under Jason Holder, he feels the team is formidable with Chris Gayle returning to the fold. “Chris Gayle brings in power at the start, as seen against England. His impact is amazing and he can change game singlehandedly. They have the ability and swag and Caribbean flavour will be the talk of the town. They need to get their bowling together and will be a formidable team,” Kumble was quoted as saying by CricketNext.

Kumble was all praises for the Windies captain Jason Holder, who has brought the team together and mentioned, “Holder is someone West Indies cricket should thank as he has brought best out of limited resources and with Russell, Gayle, back in the squad, the experience is there for Holder to get help from.”

West Indies bowling lineup is fairly young with Oshane Thomas, Fabien Allen, Sheldon Cottrell mixing it up with Kemar Roach, Shannon Gabriel, who don’t play ODI cricket regularly and Kumble thinks here is the chance for Windies team management to be smart in picking the best bowlers.

“Bowling is the weak link. There is no experience in bowling. They have to get bowling right to let the batting destroy oppositions. West Indies batsmen have to make smart choices on which balls to hit and its matter of starting the tournament on a good note and getting momentum for the tournament,” Kumble further said.

Anil Kumble felt that Jason Holder’s men had all the ability and skills to make it into the semifinals of the tournament.

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