Mumbai: Former West Indian batsman Darren Ganga believes that if Jason Holder-led side are to go all the way in the World Cup, they will have to focus on their positives. “I always believe that you got to play to your strengths in any competition and I expect the West Indies to do exactly that. They didn’t have the best of series before (the World Cup), in Ireland they lost to Bangladesh, but it’s a new squad, and a squad with Chris Gayle and Andre Russell is always a formidable unit,” Ganga said. West Indies begin their World Cup campaign on Friday against another mercurial side – Pakistan.
And they will go into the match full of confidence after scoring a mammoth 421 against New Zealand in the final warm-up game. “A win is always good before going in the World Cup. Jason Holder and the think-tank will be planning about the combination that they will select for the first game against Pakistan. The strength of this West Indies team lies in its batting. And you can tell from the way they have gone about the business against New Zealand,” said Ganga, who along with former India speedster Ajit Agarkar, were speaking after ESPN dedicated its second multi-functional sorts space in India at a school in Dharavi, a prominent slum area. Ganga, who played 48 Test matches, however, also felt that the spin option for West Indies was not as potent as other teams.
“What will be the concern (for West Indies) will be the bowling and how penetrative that bowling is. You can see that the spin option is not as potent as other teams in this World Cup,” he noted. Ganga said that not having a huge expectation could be a blessing in disguise for Jason Holder and his men. Saying West Indies could be a “dark horse”, Ganga said the team would surprise many of their opponents. “It will be a team that will surprise many of the opposition teams in this tournament (I am saying it) not because I’m a West Indian, but from what I have seen from the camaraderie, what I have seen behind the scenes, they potentially can get into the that top fours but they are strong contenders there as well. “(And) I will say top 5 to give myself a buffer, but I think this team will surprise many people,” he signed off.
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