Over the last decade, there have been some noticeable changes in how West Indies has performed, from being a top-notch unit that won the 2016 T20 World Cup to one that couldn’t even qualify for the 2023 ODI World Cup. A group that was once known for their swagger and unique style that helped them dominate all three formats of the game, this joy has no longer been there ever since franchise cricket has gotten bigger.
Seeing that they are a proud group of cricket nations in the Caribbean who have won 5 World Cups, their current state shows that it is very hard to reach winning levels again unless their players stop falling into a trap which has affected the overall aura of the team over these past few years.
Is BCCI controlling WI cricket?
Seeing that many West Indies players are perhaps now falling into this BCCI-led “trap” called the Indian Premier League, it has become a noticeable theme that a lot of them care more about playing for a franchise team, which does nothing for their legacy in comparison to having a nation-first mentality that would help them build a career that can’t be forgotten.
Compared to players like Darren Sammy, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, and Brian Lara, who will always be remembered as legends of the game, many cricketers in this generation had the chance to do that as well, but ruined their chances by playing in leagues which have no value to the sport except for making money from various viewers and getting big contracts.
2025 Retirements Show How Much Some Players Care for Country
When talking directly about the year 2025, all the truth came out about several West Indies players who actually wanted to represent their nation, while also showing the ones who were willing to earn extra so they no longer had international duties. The biggest example of this was Nicholas Pooran, who was paid 21 crores or $2.2 million USD to leave the West Indies and focus on playing for Lucknow Super Giants.
Someone who the West Indies counted on to be their rising star for the upcoming years and a key part in their 2027 ODI World Cup, Pooran completely betrayed them to play for a franchise in a league that many cricketers like Rilee Roussow described as a “movie”. As the richest board has somewhat tried a tactic of trying to keep world stars all around the world, like Heinrich Klaasen, Marcus Stoinis, and Pooran, fresh for their benefit of making more through the IPL, this was another common theme with Andre Russell, who retired to become a coach, even though he had more than enough ability to play.
With Russell being one of those players who is more than notorious for missing international matches due to leagues like ILT20, Big Bash, IPL, and more, it was a real shocker to see him pick coaching over an opportunity to continue playing important series into the World Cup for the West Indies. But, yet again, this was somewhat the richest board offering him way more money and trying to be a way that they can steal another player from their international team by paying them more, while helping benefit their own league.
With Russell being a coach, and Pooran choosing to play for an MI franchise in other leagues that won’t mean anything once he hangs up his cleats, it has also been shown through his LSG performances that the money he was chasing after has ruined his form, which the West Indies coaches had developed originally. Playing for money hasn’t just affected other teams, but it seems that the richest board has also made it in a way where more and more players from other teams retire to make those teams worse.
Comparing Players
A big key to understanding how somewhat the richest damaged West Indies cricket is to understand the form of players before and after retiring for bigger contracts, while comparing it to those who actually cared about the nation and continue being great despite like of strength in the side. Looking at a player like Shai Hope, this is someone whose long-term legacy will be maintained as a strong ODI piece that’s scored over 6,000 runs, while he continues improving his game in T20Is.
Not giving into any more leagues than 1-2 a year, his performance for the Guyana Amazon Warriors in the CPL, and Pretoria Capitals continues being strong, while another name like this is Brandon King, whose first 6 test matches have been pretty successful, and with strong white-ball numbers, he can implement this into his time with the Barbados Royals.
Comparing to this Nicholas Pooran, he has just managed to just score 336 runs in 21 combined innings across both the SA20 and IPL. Seeing that he can’t hit those power shots anymore, players like Brandon King, Shai Hope, and even Sherfane Rutherford, plus Shimron Hetmyer, have shown resurgence in the white-ball game, which made West Indies a threat throughout the World Cup.
Another example of affecting league performance after being paid more and retiring from West Indies is Kyle Mayers, who is stuck struggling to score more than 30 a match in the Bangladeshi Premier League and barely showing up in the CPL, while Roston Chase continued gaining real international experience and was able to dominate the CPL, the biggest league he currently plays. Scoring 270 runs this season as a solid batsman, he was able to add 11 vital wickets, while Mayers couldn’t build off that same international experience to pick up wickets.
This same issue occurred with Andre Russell, who barely scored 30 runs for Pretoria Capitals this year and provided almost no impact, while current Windies star Romario Shepard didn’t fall for the trap and not only plays the best cricketers in the world, but is able to dominate for RCB and Guyana Amazon Warriors in his free time.
With this being said, it not only goes to show how international players can also dominate leagues during their free time for fun, but it is a direct shot at guys like Nicholas Pooran and Andre Russell to show that the richest board really affected their careers by not letting them play international cricket in order to make more money on both sides and getting extra pressure for nothing, which forced their struggle in leagues that are meaningless.
The IPL Coaching Dilemma
As previously mentioned about Andre Russell, a lot of these former West Indies players decided to retire very early to make extra money from the BCCI and franchise owners that also lead IPL teams, while forgoing playing for their country. Despite Dwayne Bravo being excluded from this list because he was mistreated by the Windies board as well, and Sunil Narine is continuing to play, there are several other examples of this.
The first name to bring up is Kieron Pollard, who was just 34 when he retired, he almost had no excuses because the West Indies board gave him ample opportunities to play matches. But, instead, he decided to go on and earn extra & now a part of MI’s coaching staff, it is clear that neither is he a great player nor a good coach, and has left West Indies behind with no middle-order option after Pooran also left.
Seeing that Andre Russell is in a very similar position and hasn’t done much to build himself up either, it shows that they don’t care about finding new talent in the West Indies and coaching those players up like their old teammates Dinesh Ramdin, Courtney Walsh, and Rawl Lewis are.
If things don’t change quickly, the West Indies could really find themselves in a world of trouble with players falling for the richest board and this once great team becoming an associate one. It is time for the younger generation to wake up and not follow people like Nicholas Pooran and Kieron Pollard because they are not leaders, but the breaking point of West Indies cricket. Instead, there should be a sense of motivation of helping this team grow once again and having a board that can take any potential traps that are getting set, while dominating in the near future.
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