T20 World Cup - The Skippers

Continued from yesterday:

Elmo RODRIGOPULLE Reporting from England

Christopher Henry Gayle - West Indies

Gayle who leads the Caribbean cricketers now in all forms of the game, will have a big responsibility to not only lead them, but lead them to success and aim to win the Twenty20 World Cup beginning on June 5 and resurrect their cricket.

When the West Indians won the First Test against England 1-0 and the series, it was hoped that they would take it from there and strive to win back their glory days where they dominated the game in forms of the game.

But that longing fell to pieces after their lackadaisical display in the recent Test series in England where they meekly surrendered 2 Tests to nil. But that debacle should be forgotten when they step into a different ball game in Twenty20. The cricketers from the Caribbean have the knack of going for their shots, not caring about the outcome, and while they tend to succeed it has not been so most times.

This tournament can be considered a make or break for Gayle and his captaincy. In recent times he has mentioned giving up the captaincy. The outcome in this tournament will tell. The cricketers are tremendously talented individually. But it is not always that they play as a team. If Gayle, a left hand batsman with the ability to stand and deliver is able to get them to play as a team,then success could be theirs. West Indies are in Group C with Sri Lanka and Australia

Graeme Smith - South Africa

A highly talented left hand batsman, Smith was given the captaincy at a very early age and although leading with success at times, has yet to take the country"s cricket to the top. Smith has crop of talented cricketers under him, and if they play to their true potential, there is no reason why they cannot triumph this time round.

The South Africans have in recent times been tagged chockers. Now that is one tag that they will want to shed, play to true potential and leave their mark in this form of the game.

Since taking over from Shaun Pollock, Smith has strived hard for consistency,but has surprisingly not been able to achieve it. He has exuded confidence this time round and all their supporters would be waiting in hope that they will succeed.