Gayle, Pollard, Narine, Bravo Headline Windies Dream ODI XI For Past Decade

Infighting between the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) and the cricketers, a financially dented federation and lack of stable leadership at the helm of affairs plagued the Caribbean nation's cricketing fortunes for yet another decade.

West Indies Cricket Team (Image Credit: Getty/AFP)

The once all mighty West Indies were no longer a competitive force in ODI cricket as they struggled to stay afloat amid stiff competition posed by more formidable teams like India, England and Australia in the white ball format during the decade gone by. The 'Maroon Brigade' had one too many world class cricketers in the limited overs format but they were badly found wanting in gelling as a collective and cohesive unit. Flashes of brilliance from their ODI stalwarts exliritated and excited their Calypso fans but inconsistencies kept creeping into their pretty up and down game, leaving them reeling at the bottom of the ODI table for most part of the decade. Infighting between the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) and the cricketers, a financially dented federation and lack of stable leadership at the helm of affairs plagued the Caribbean nation's cricketing fortunes for yet another decade. Moreover, being free agents or globetrotters in the money spinning T20 leagues seemed a rather more lucrative proposition in raking up moolah and took precedence over wearing the Maroon Jersey with pride for their national team. So let us look at the best men from the Caribbean Islands who donned the Maroon Jersey and represented the West Indies with distinction in ODIs during the last decade Explosive Gayle Continued To Be Windies Best Best At Top Of The Innings Swashbuckling opener Chris Gayle was not at his destructive best but was still a force to reckon with up the order. Fast approaching 40, the Jamaican power hitter thrilled fans with some whirlwind knocks and brought some of his marauding innings at the World Cups. Gayle had a spree of opening partners but finally found his foil in the diminutive Evin Lewis who could also pack a punch with his pugnacious hitting. Lendl Simmons and Johnson Charles also had their moments under the sun while opening the batting for the Calypso Kings in ODIs. Shai Hope Was The Rock In An Highly Brittle Middle Order Shai Hope was the calming influence in an otherwise batting lineup loaded with aggressive strokemakers and power hitters. The ever consistent Hope became the gluing agent with his penchant to occupy the crease and score some match winning knocks. The talented but temperamental Marlon Samuels could play the stabilizer's role and also press on the acceleration button with his versatile range of shots. Russell, Sammy, Pollard All Produce Whirlwind Game Changing Cameos Windies' cutting edge weapon in their batting armoury lay in their explosive lower middle order which perhaps was the most destructive of the decade with their lusty  hitting. With a spree of power-packed bludgenors in Kieron Pollard, Andre Russell, Darren Sammy, Dwayne Bravo and Carlos Brathwaite, all capable of annihilating attacks with their outrageous ball striking, Windies could hurt the best of teams when on full song. Wicket-keeper batsman Denesh Ramdin and Dwayne Smith were the other handy contributors with the willow, chipping in with valuable runs lower down the order. Towards the end of the decade, explosive strokemakers in Shimron Hetmyer and Nicolas Pooran turned quite a few heads some scintillating display of strokeplay. Roach, Holder And Co. Form A Decent Seam Attack Windies pace attack might have not been as potent but was still a handful to effect serious damage to batting lineups. While the giant like Jason Holder and Shannon Gabriel could extract some steep bounce, the skiddy customer Sheldon Cottrell was deceptive with his late swing through the air. Speed demons Kemar Roach, Alzarri Joseph and Oshane Thomas could rack up some serious pace to run through the defences. The pace attack was beefed up by medium pacers in Kieron Pollard, Andre Russell and Dwayne Bravo who used their change of pace and to great effect in outfoxing batsmen. Narine The Run Choker With His Subtle Variations Spin always played second fiddle in a predominantly Windies seam attack but Sunil Narine was a world class tweaker who choked the opposition with his immaculate lines and subtle variations. Tweakers Ashley Nurse, Marlon Samuels, Chris Gayle chipped in with wickets. West Indies Best  ODI XI (2010-2019) Chris Gayle, Evin Lewis / Lendl Simmons, Shai Hope (wk) , Marlon Samuels, Dwayne Bravo, Kieron Pollard, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Jason Holder, Kemar Roach, Ravi Rampaul Notable Mentions Batsmen: Lendl Simmons, Shimron Hetmyer, Nicholas Pooran, Johnson Charles, Darren Bravo All-rounders: Darren Sammy, Dwyane Smith, Carlos Brathwaite, Rowman Powell, Keemo Paul Ashley Nurse Spinners: Devendro Bishoo, Sulieman Benn Seamers: Jerome Taylor, Shannon Gabriel, Sheldon Cottrell,Oshane Thomas WEST INDIES ODI RECORD (2010-2019) Played - 196 Won - 69 Win % - 35% WEST INDIES RECORD IN WORLD CUPS (2010-2019) 2019 - Eliminated In Round Robin Stage, 2015 - Quarterfinalist , 2011  -  Quarterfinalist