London: The current West Indies team is not laggard and has the firepower to cause a few upsets in the ongoing ICC World Cup, said legendary Clive Lloyd. Lloyd, who captained West Indies in three World Cups, said he was mighty impressed with the Caribbean side’s “clinical” performance against Pakistan in its World Cup opener at Nottingham on Friday.
West Indies dished out a hostile bowling effort to bundle out Pakistan for a paltry 106 and then chased down the target in 13.4 overs with seven wickets in hand. “I thought the West Indies were quite clinical against Pakistan. They used the pitch to their advantage in the sense that it had a bit of life and they put pressure on Pakistan. They now have to keep things going and should be looking now to try and qualify,” Lloyd wrote in a column for the ICC website.
“I’m sure they will upset a few of the big boys if they play like that. This game has proven that we have some firepower and that means we can match anybody in this competition,’ he added. Lloyd, who captained West Indies to World Cup victories in 1975 and 1979, feels the game against defending champions Australia would give a fair bit of idea where the Caribbeans” stand.
“I was proud to see them really perform – not that I didn’t expect them to do well. We have to try and test out our batting now, that’s the real test going forward. We have to see how they do when they have to bat first and try and post a good total,” he said.
“We just need to see what happens when the pressure is on the West Indies, but the game against Australia should do that as that will be a good test of where we are at. Australia have got some firepower and some very good batsmen, so that should be an excellent game. That will give you an idea if West Indies can qualify or not,” he said.
Lloyd, considered as one of the most successful Test captains of all time, said West Indies are quite capable of making the last-four stage. “It’s going to be a good test and I also want to see the game against England, that too is going to be quite the contest. England have some real firepower and variety too. “The next week or so is going to be very exciting for this competition. From what I’ve seen so far, though, I think the West Indies do possess enough to qualify for the last four,” he said.