“The mighty Australian team never got along well” - AB de Villiers rubbishes theory of lack of pride being behind West Indies’ downfall

Former South African batter AB de Villiers has disagreed with observations that a lack of passion and pride has led to the downfall of the West Indies cricket team. Referring to the mighty Australian side of the late 90s and early 2000s, he stated that there was plenty of turmoil among members of the time, but it never came in the way of their performances.

In the wake of West Indies’ failure to qualify for the ODI World Cup for the first time in history, some suggestions have been doing the rounds, stating that they must be stripped of Test status and that individual islands like Antigua and Guyana should be given associate member status by the ICC. An Indian journalist tweeted that by doing the above, individual teams might play with more passion and pride.

Reacting to the suggestion, De Villiers said that he found the tweet interesting but did not agree with the observation.

He said on his YouTube channel:

“I don’t agree with that tweet at all. I don’t think the issue for the West Indies has anything to do with passion or pride. Look at the 90s, the early 2000s - the mighty Australian team. I know for a fact that they never really got along well. There was a lot of turmoil in that environment, in the change room. Not a lot of players liked each other.”

The 39-year-old added:

“I know it because I have spoken to some of the players that were there at that time. But look how they performed on the field. It had nothing to do with pride or passion or whether they were best friends or not. The minute they stepped across the boundary rope, they made it happen. The fire just got turned on.”

The Australian team of the late 90s and early 2000s were often referred to as ‘invincibles’ due to their dominance across formats. They won 16 Test matches in a row and also lifted three ODI World Cups in succession.

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“West Indies need to pull together as a team” - De Villiers

Sharing his thoughts on West Indies’ decline, De Villiers opined that the Windies need to find a way to play as a team, putting behind whatever issues they are facing.

“In my opinion, the West Indies need to pull together as a team. I don’t know if the issues are from the top or from the grassroots level or whether there’s maybe just not enough talent at the moment there,” he said.

West Indies will take on India in the second Test of the two-match series at Port of Spain in Trinidad from July 20 to 24.