NEW DELHI: Even though the West Indies bowed out from the
T20 World Cup
in the
Super Eight round
on Sunday, captain
Rovman Powell
said his side should be proud of reviving interest in
Caribbean
cricket.
In order to advance to the semi-finals, the co-hosts had to defeat
South Africa
in
Antigua
. Despite playing the rain-affected match until the very end, they lost by three wickets.
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"When you look on a large scale, we haven't won the World Cup, we aren't in the semi-finals, but I think the cricket that we've played in the last 12 months or so is commendable," he said, according to Reuters.
"Credit has to be given to the team, if you can take a year to move from number nine to number three in the world, that's tremendous work.
"We haven't won the World Cup but there was a lot of improvement and there's a lot of buzz around the Caribbean again about
West Indies cricket
."
Powell thanked the supporters of the squad on social media as well as the large, boisterous audiences who had flocked to the West Indies matches around the area.
"They have been fantastic," he added. "It's good to see that some buzz is back in the Caribbean for the cricket because we know for how long that has died down. And I know people are rallying around the West Indies as they do.
"Now, when we hear the anthem play as players, we feel something, and I think that is heading in the right direction. Credit has to be given to the guys, they fought tonight and they fought throughout the last 12 months."
Powell believed that this tournament would signal a change in the West Indies' fortunes, as their dominance in cricket had diminished since the 1970s and 1980s.
"Now is where the work starts for us to continue to work as a group still be tight," he said. "And hopefully, just hopefully we can continue to climb the rankings and make the Caribbean people proud."
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