The dark horses of the World T20 2016: West Indies and England

West Indies and England have one World T20 title in their kitty of trophies apiece. These two sides have also dominated the better part of the 20th century, producing players, redefining the cricketing trends from time to time. The 21st century, however, has seen both sides fall out of the rat race into an uneasy oblivion they have never been in.

Of late, it seems that though each time England participates in any ICC event, they get kicked in the teeth. And quite badly as well. As for the West Indies, the tussle between the players and the board seems as though the end of the so-called ‘Civil War’ is nowhere in the vicinity. Both sides, however, pose a serious threat on their day. Therefore, should any of those days come in the duration of the World T20, the premade script will well and truly be ripped to shreds.

The West Indies haven’t played a T20 international since the 11th of November 2015.England is yet to pull off a win in 2016.The table shown above depicts a stat that has been accumulated over a few years. However, when broken down, these stats are not as pretty as they are presented.

• Eoin Morgan averages 27.4 in his last four innings, three of which came in South Africa
• Stuart Broad is the highest wicket-taker for England in T20s. His exclusion means that Chris Jordan will have to lead the bowling attack. He is behind Broad by a country mile.

As mentioned earlier, both England and the West Indies have the ability to pull off surprises in the tournament. While the T20 format has been designed in such a manner that the outcome of the match is on a knife-edge, the dark horses always hold all the cards.

That said, below mentioned are a few threats that West Indies and England carry.

England

England has been a side in transition ever since the conclusion of the 2015 World Cup down under. Andrew Strauss came into the fold as director of the ECB with the hopes of making sweeping changes within the establishment. It was clear that the axe’s would fall. Strauss’ moves saw England become a youthful and exuberant team under skipper Eoin Morgan.

The current team is witnessing a complete turnover from the 2015 World Cup in terms of players and personnel. Exciting batsmen such as Sam Billings, James Vince and Jos Buttler have been added to the experienced side of Joe Root, skipper Morgan. However, the batting will revolve around Alex Hales, who has been in pristine form all through the South African tour. The England bowling, on the other hand, has been highly depleted. James Anderson, Stuart Broad and Steven Finn are all absent from the squad. However, the youthful setup may well be the shot in the arm that England needed. The bowling attack is expected to comprise of Adil Rashid, Moeen Ali, David Willey, Reece Topley and James Vince. Adil Rasheed and Moeen Ali will be certainly looking to make an impact on the turning tracks in India.

West Indies

Each time the West Indies are involved in T20Is, it is understood that they have a 70% chance of winning. It is something about the Calypso players that they are always in the hunt to secure a victory. The reason for West Indies’ dark-horse status is simply due to the fact that a massive chunk of players is making a return to the international side.

The return of Chris Gayle and Darren Sammy has boosted the Windies. Gayle himself has been known to decimate attacks with his amazing swing of the bat. With the likes of Jason Holder marshalling the bowling attack, there is no reason the West Indies cannot do a repeat of the 2012 World Cup winning editions.