West Indies’ beacon of Hope: How captain Shai shined with unbeaten century against India in Ranchi T20I chase

West Indies skipper Shai Hope (left) scores his maiden T20I century as he led his side to a six-wicket win in a 250-run chase against India at the JSCA Stadium, in Ranchi on Friday. | Photo Credit: K.R. DEEPAK

Shai has been a beacon of Hope for Caribbean cricket.

The West Indian’s batting graph has gone north ever since landing in India. After five outings against the Men in Blue across three ODIs and two T20Is, Hope has added 432 golden runs to his international tally.

It’s tough to pick out his best knock from the last two weeks. He has three centuries and a half-century to choose from. Perhaps, he will narrow it down to the unbeaten ones: 162 in the third ODI in New Chandigarh and 102 in the second T20I in Ranchi. He did hit the winning runs in both, each sealing the Windies’ highest successful run-chase in that particular format (352 and 250, respectively).

What may tip the balance towards his exploits at the JSCA Stadium would be that it was his first T20I century (always special).

“I think people underrate Hope a lot. He is a guy who can blank out noise and just focus on what he has to do. Because when everything seems to be going wrong, he’s still up there giving his best and performing for the team,” West Indies all-rounder Roston Chase said after the visitors’ record chase on Friday.

READ | IND vs WI: Hope, Rutherford onslaught flattens India as Windies mow down 250

Hope is not one to use brute force — a trait popular among the West Indian willow-wielders — and he has often had to face critiques about his strike-rate. That has been taken care of for now with his ball-striking against India (SR of 112.10 in ODIs and 187.80 in T20Is).

“People play down his stats and record in T20 cricket. They always say he either bats too slowly or he bats for himself. I’m always happy when I see him do well. I know he’s an ultimate professional who tries to tick every box and do the right things all the time,” Chase added.

And Hope’s upgrade wasn’t just built on hope. “He’s done a lot of gym work to make himself stronger in terms of hitting the ball over the ropes. He also practises a lot of range hitting to get in those strong positions,” Chase explained.

Hope’s heroics even drew praise from the opposition camp.

“We know Shai is a world-class cricketer. We respect him for what he has done in white-ball cricket,” head coach Gautam Gambhir said after India’s six-wicket loss.

Hope — as the famous Shawshank Redemption dialogue goes — is a good thing, maybe the best of things. Now, Shai Hope’s best is here, ready for some redemption!