Shai Hope aims to flex T20 muscles

Best known for his superlative One-day international (ODI) batting record and a pair of historic centuries versus England in a famous Headingley Test win in 2017, stylish right-handed batsman Shai Hope is itching to make his name in the Twenty/20 arena.

With 16 ODI centuries to his name to go along with an average of 50.26, the West Indies ODI skipper has been one of the most consistent players in white-ball cricket for the Caribbean team in the last decade. And while he has been unable to translate his prolific ODI form to the Test arena, the wicket-keeper/batsman is now showing signs of adapting his elegant touch to the game’s shortest format.

The 30-year-old Hope made his T20 debut for the West Indies versus New Zealand in December 2017 – 13 months after making his ODI debut.

Hope has played 28 T20s for the Windies in a seven-year span, and he has a modest average of 21.20, to go along with a strike rate of 125.36. The stroke-maker has become a regular fixture in the T20 setup in the last year, and this was affirmed when he served as captain Rovman Powell’s deputy for the five-match series versus England in December 2023, as well as the three-match series away to Australia this February. For the June 1-29 International Cricket Council (ICC) T20 World Cup, though, fast bowler Alzarri Joseph was elevated to the role of vice-captain.

To date, Hope has struck two T20 fifties for the West Indies, both coming in sub-continent conditions against Bangladesh and Afghanistan respectively.

Against Bangladesh in Sylhet in December 2018, Hope gave a glimpse into his power game when he hit off-spinner Mehidy Hasan Miraz for a total of five sixes in a rapid 23-ball knock of 55 – his best T20 score for the West Indies. Hope raced to his fifty off just 16 balls in an innings which stands as the fastest fifty by a Windies player in the format.

In the 2023 Caribbean Premier League (CPL), Hope flexed his muscles again when he thumped 24 tournament sixes and pushed himself to the top of the CPL scoring charts with 481 runs, earning him the MVP award.

He rattled off four fifties and a maiden T20 century in the 2023 CPL season which was scored against Barbados Royals at Providence Stadium in Guyana last September. In a brutal onslaught, Hope hammered 32 runs off a Rahkeem Cornwall over – with four sixes – to race to his ton off just 41 balls. Hope’s Guyana Amazon Warriors team copped their first CPL title last year.

In the regional team’s last three T20 series, Hope has been solid – if not prolific – scoring 205 runs in his last nine innings at an average of 29.3.

In the fifth and decisive game versus England last December, Hope made a measured run-a-ball 43 to guide the Windies to a series-clinching four-wicket win against the reigning T20 World Cup champions at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy, Tarouba.

Hope’s T20 surge hasn’t gone unnoticed on the world stage, as he landed a contract with Delhi Capitals for the 2024 Indian Premier League (IPL) season. In his first nine games for Delhi, Hope scored 183 runs at an average of 22.88, to go with a strike rate of 150.

At the 2024 T20 World Cup, Hope may well be expected to play an anchoring role in a powerful West Indies batting lineup.