HAVING lost to both Australia and Sri Lanka earlier in the tournament, the West Indies rebounded to beat both teams in the semi-final and final of this year’s ICC World T20 World Cup tournament, to lift the title on Sunday at the Premadasa Stadium in Sri Lanka. In an invited comment, former skipper Clive Lloyd, the man who was hailed as the ‘Super Cat’ in his heyday, said the presence of talismanic opener Christopher Gayle along with the emergence of his fellow Jamaican Marlon Samuels, played an important role in West Indies’ victory.

“The victory was well earned as a team, as a few of the guys, apart from Gayle and Samuels who were both missing for a while, were making the nucleus of the team, when they came in and the team began gelling together.
It was quite obvious also, that without Gayle, we would not have been the force that we are and with Samuels coming into his own on his return to the team, along with our spinners (Sunil Narine and Samuel Badree) who were getting important wickets.” said Lloyd.
The 68-year -old Lloyd, who led the West Indies to their first two World Cup wins in 1975 and 1979, also showered praise on Trinidad and Tobago fast bowler Ravi Rampaul, who came into his own at the right time for the team.
“We had Samuels who bowls pretty stiff as an off-spinner and along with Gayle they added quiet a bit of variety to the bowling lineup. It’s also a good thing that Ravi came into his own in the final, as he has been at the forefront of their bowling attack and it’s good to see it all came together in the final analysis.”
Lloyd believes the win by the West Indies is not only good for the game in the Caribbean, but the people and the team, as they have won another major trophy after the 2004 Champions Team trophy, bringing with it, a lift throughout the Caribbean.
Looking at the naysayers who were targeting the skipper Darren Sammy, Lloyd said the Windies skipper showed that he can lead the team, since being the captain of the West Indies team is not an easy task.
“Sammy showed he can lead to bring people together and that’s important. Being captain of the West Indies is not an easy job and he has done marvellously well and my congratulations to him, while I hope he continues his success with the team,” stated Lloyd.
The International Cricket Council (ICC) Cricket Development Committee Chairman believed that the `favourites tag’ which was applied to the Regional Team would have served not as a distraction, but rather a motivation.
“Being tagged favourites for the title would have certainly served as a motivation and not distraction. It would have encouraged them to go out there and beat whoever was placed in front of them, which they eventually did to claim the title.
Even when the chips were down against New Zealand in the Super Eight, we rallied and came back and won that game. If they had lost it, then the critics would have gone at them uncontrollably, but they won and it’s time for them to have an upward mobility in all formats of the game,” said Lloyd.
He added, “Winning is contagious. You go out there now thinking that you can beat the best and they can do so, just look at how they played in the tournament.
At no time they looked as if they wanted to lose any game, even against Sri Lanka in the Super Eight and the final on Sunday.”
Taking the time to reflect on the preliminary and Super Eight round losses to Australia and Sri Lanka, Lloyd believes the team placed it behind them quickly like true professionals and  focused on the next game.
“When we got 190 odd against Australia, we should have gotten 200 and over but did not. We showed we can do it by doing so in the next game against England and to my mind, if you make 192 against any team, it shows that you have batted and that what they did, bat England out of the game,” stated Lloyd.
He used the West Indies’ dreaded tour to Australia where they lost 5-1, saying his team was not a fit one, but fought tooth and nail to defeat their opponents, who was expected to steamroll them, inside three days for their solitary win during the Test series.
“If somebody is going to beat you 5-1, then they should be crushing you all the time. But we never had a full complement of players, but rather a lot of injuries as some of the guys were not fit all the time, that’s why we have a fitness trainer now.
“We tried our best in the sense that we realised they have beaten us and we have to apply ourselves, as this is the final. They (Sri Lanka) would have been under some pressure too as they would have lost quite a few finals so we had the upper hand in that respect,” said Lloyd.
“Looking back at the contest, the West Indies were struggling at 14 for 2, having lost the wickets of Johnson Charles (0) and Gayle (3), before Samuels topscored with 78 and Dwayne Bravo added 59 for the third wicket.
Lloyd believes that was the turning point for the West Indies, who got to 137 for 6 from their 20 overs, which he felt was a fighting total in the end.
“I keep saying that if you want to gain altitude, you must have the right attitude and they had it. Although they did not make a big score, the fielding was excellent and there was a total team effort from everybody on and off the field of play.”
He said he was asked by a caller from Barbados, if the West Indies have turned the corner, to which he replied positively without hesitation.
“We have won the ICC T20 World Cup. We have beaten the best and we have to be proud of that, at all times.”
Alluding to his email that was sent to Sammy, Lloyd said he felt the need to remind the skipper and his crew, that there are people in the Caribbean who are backing them to come out on top 100%, something he felt they needed to hear at such a crucial time of the tournament.
Lloyd said the win will certainly serve as a morale-booster not only to the team, but the people of the Caribbean, adding that he feels the same pride and joy to be a West Indian today, as
he did 37 years ago when he first lifted the World Cup.
Meanwhile, former West Indies all-rounder and coach Roger Harper said the victory would serve as a catalyst to the people of the Caribbean.
“I think it was a tremendous victory for West Indies cricket. Good all-round team effort from the guys.”
“Everyone was looking to Gayle, but he did not deliver on the big stage, Samuels did and the team had a lot of belief.
“One can only hope that it will be tremendous motivation and a confidence-builder for he guys to really play to the sort of level they can on a more consistent basis,” said Harper.
The Georgetown Cricket Association president said the team realised they were playing for the Caribbean people, with the interest being shown by Guyanese who turned out at bars and clubs to witness the action, with everyone being keen to follow the championships, in which the West Indies came out with a victory.