West Indies cricket: How the mighty have fallen

West Indies, once the emperors of one-day cricket -- dominant champions of the first two editions of the World Cup in 1975 and 1979 and runners-up in 1983 -- plunged to perhaps their lowest on Saturday. In a heartbreaking result for the game's romantics, they were eliminated from the qualifiers and will miss the ODI World Cup for the first time ever.

The Caribbean side will not feature in this year's tournament in India after unfancied Scotland handed them a seven-wicket loss in a Super Six game of the qualifying tournament in Harare.

Their qualifying campaign was already coming apart, having lost to hosts Zimbabwe and Netherlands in their previous two matches. And their first-ever defeat to Scotland in this format meant they are yet to open their account in the Super Six stage with matches against Oman and Sri Lanka remaining.

The top two teams from the qualifying event will advance to the 10-team World Cup, joining the teams that gained entry on account of finishing in the top eight of the 2020-23 ODI Super League. As things stand, Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe are in prime position to qualify, with six points each.

Though a steady decline has beset cricket in the Caribbean over the past two decades, their failure to qualify for an ODI World Cup is a calamity. Lest we forget, West Indies — under the captaincy of Clive Lloyd — lit up the tournament in its early years, lending primacy to it with their compelling brand of cricket. India had a part to play in putting an end to their dominance by winning the 1983 World Cup — its 40th anniversary was celebrated on 25 June. Given the distinct flavour the men in maroon bring, Indian fans would have dearly liked for them to be part of this year's carnival at home.

While West Indies narrowly missed out on direct qualification after finishing ninth in the ODI Super League, they have simply not turned up since the very beginning of the qualifying event on 18 June. On Saturday, they were bundled out for 181 as Scotland eased to victory with 6.3 overs left. Reduced to 81/6 after the dismissal of Nicholas Pooran, there was the risk of West Indies suffering greater ignominy, but all-rounder Jason Holder gave some respectability to the total with a knock of 45.

"To be honest, there is not one thing I can put my finger on. We let ourselves down in the entire tournament," West Indies captain Shai Hope said. "The preparation needs to be better. We cannot come here and expect to be an elite team without preparation. We cannot expect to wake up one morning and be a great team. We know there are two more games left, we need to find a way to bounce back."

Such setbacks usually call for heads to roll, but it's pertinent to note that Hope was appointed ODI captain only in February. Daren Sammy, who led West Indies to two T20 World Cup titles in 2012 and 2016, was appointed coach of the white-ball teams in May. They will perhaps need to be given a longer run before gauging their suitability for the roles.

A more pressing need is to ensure the availability of their best players all the time. Since the advent of T20 leagues around the world, Cricket West Indies (CWI) has been embroiled in an endemic struggle to have all of its players commit to the national team. Shimron Hetmyer, Evin Lewis, Andre Russell and Sunil Narine are just four of those who would have lifted the team in Zimbabwe, but they were all absent for different reasons. Russell hasn't played for West Indies since 2021 while Narine's last game was four years ago.

After his appointment as coach, Sammy had reached out to these players to get them back into the fold. "I've reached out to guys like Russell. I've reached out to Sunil Narine and all these guys too, to hear what their thoughts are. Because they still take part in some of our domestic competitions. I'm encouraged by the discussions that we've had when it comes to West Indies cricket, outlining clear plans as to how we reintegrate them," he had said.

Having seen the team's capitulation in the qualifiers, Sammy will be all the more eager to have a greater pool of talent at his disposal. If they don't, their fortunes will continue to plummet.