The West Indies cricket team was the best performing team in the seventies and eighties of the nineteen hundreds. The team comprised some of the best individuals of their trades and thus happened to be the strongest team that could destroy their adversaries in any match they played. The fast bowling lineup of the group was famous for sending batters out of the crease on stretchers. No nation had seen a bowling lineup close to this, and facing them as opponents was a dreading experience. Their bouncers could hurt you at any moment in the games, which gets you hospitalised. The bowling lineup included the tallest players of the age Malcolm Marshall, Joel Garner, Andy Roberts, and Michael Holding, and their names were enough to frighten the batters of the other teams. Let’s get into this legendary story.
The Beginning Of The Magic
The magic began when Clive Lloyd became the captain of the West Indian cricket team, and his first task surfaced as a test tour to India. This was the debut of the most excellent batter of West Indian Cricket, Vivian Richards. He did well in his first match and scored a splendid 192, not out in the second match of the series.
The following year was the year of the inauguration of the cricket world cup. It was held in England, which is supposed to have the best cricket grounds in the world. But with that, it also had a great cricket team which was the most prominent team. With the win against Australia in the world cup finals, West Indies proved that they are the best team in the world.
The Golden Era Of The Team
In 1976, the West Indies team went for a Test series against England on their home grounds, and in a pre-match interview, the captain of England then, Tony Greig, commented, “We will make them grovel.” The team with the best players became legends after giving the English captain a befitting reply with their astonishing performances in the series. Vivian Richards scored a huge 829 runs just in the five-match test series. He hit a 232 at Trent Bridge, and a vast 291 runs at the Ovals. The team won the last three matches of the five match series.
Wrapping Up!
The West Indies team was the best team for test cricket for the whole eighties. Many prominent groups and countries trolled them in the previous years, but finally, they silenced all the people with their excellent performances. Moreover, they did not come up to the press to speak anything regarding their opponents, but they stood on the crease with strong willpower, dedication, and truthfulness towards their game.
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