Windies in 2018 - A familiar tale

The lows outnumbered the highs for Windiesin 2018. Does it ring any bells? It's been the same story for a while now for one of the giants of the cricketing world. While the Caribbean Premier League continues to grow in stature, the national side has only managed to enjoy mixed results.

The year began with a heavy loss in a T20 fixture against New Zealand and their fortunes in what was supposed to be their most favoured format continued to dwindle throughout the year where they enjoyed only a 40% success rate. A makeshift team touring Pakistan for three T20Is and getting hammered didn't do their confidence any favours as well. The lows of T20 cricket were compensated with what was definitely their most memorable moment in 2018 - qualification to the 2019 World Cup.

On the Test front, they tasted success at home against Bangladesh and Sri Lanka winning three Tests in total and losing one. Unfortunately, they couldn't carry forward the momentum in the limited-over matches against the Asian side. The tours to the subcontinent weren't exactly memorable as well. In the midst of all these events on the pitch, allrounder Dwayne Bravo finallycalled timeon his international career having not played for the Windies in a while, whereas his half-brother's national exile finally came to end when he returned to the ODI and T20I squads.

What went right:A spot in the 2019 50-over World Cup in England. As two-time champions, they already suffered the ignominy of having to play a qualification tournament to make it to the mega event. They ensured there were no further embarrassments in store by qualifying alongside Afghanistan. They began their campaign in style as the veteran Chris Gayle and newbie Shimron Hetmyerregistered blistering centuries and from thereon, there was no looking back. Hetmyer eventually turned out to be one of their biggest positives as he kept growing in stature. They would have also been pleased with the progress Shai Hope made as an ODI batsman as he notched up a few tons in the subcontinent,

What went wrong:18 matches played in total. Won 4 and lost an alarming 13. This was the Windies's record in the subcontinent late in the year. A tour to India was always going to be one of the most challenging ones and facing Bangladesh at their own den was never going to be easy as well. No one really gave Windies a chance to topple these sides on a consistent basis in their own backyards but the manner in which they lost some of these games would be causing a concern. One batting failure after another led to their downfall and if not for Hope's fighting centuries, the win-loss ratio would have suffered more.

Top performer:Jason Holder

Captain courageous led from the front with both bat and ball chipping in with vital contributions. Holder was at the forefront of Windies's successful home Test season where they won three games and lost one. While he averaged 37 with the bat, Holder had an outstanding time with the ball picking up 28 wickets in the home season at a stunning average of just 12. In the ODI format, Holder once again had a pivotal role to play in his side's qualification for the 50-over World Cup, consistently contributing with the bat in the lower middle order and picking up handy wickets. No wonder they missed him quite badly in Bangladesh late in the year.

Biggest disappointment:Kraigg Brathwaite

There are surely many contenders but considering thatKraigg Brathwaite had established himself as one of the most important members of the Test side, he surely didn't do justice to his talent in 2018. He had a pretty good home season scoring two hundreds against Bangladesh but he struggled big time in the subcontinent. His watertight technique was expected to come to the fore against India's and Bangladesh's spinners but unfortunately his failure to get his side off to a decent start in every innings was one of the primary reasons behind the four losses. Brathwaite managed to average just 5.5 and 6.5 in India and Bangladesh respectively. Considering he predominantly plays only Test matches, he will hope that some time away from the game will help him regain his mojo in 2019.

What does 2019 have in store: Now that they have qualified for the 50-over World Cup, the goal will be to upset the odds and make it to the knockout stages of the competition. But for that to happen, a grand reunion of all the top stars in the maroon jersey at the world's biggest stage is a must. In the Test arena, they will be hosting India to kickoff their World Test Championship campaign. Hosting the world's number one Test side? It doesn't get bigger than this.