With the 2021 edition of T20 World Cup around the corner, former West Indies cricketer-turned-commentator Ian Bishop narrated the story of how ‘remember the name’ term came into his mind in the final of the previous T20 World Cup.
Bishop’s comments on air became iconic after Carlos Brathwaite smashed Ben Stokes for four sixes in the last over to power West Indies to a thrilling win over England in the summit clash of ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2016 at Eden Gardens, Kolkata.
“That 2016 final call was not planned. The day before the final, I went to a function in Kolkata, a businessman’s function. We had to have a question-and-answer session. One of the questions was, are there any players, apart from the obvious ones, in the West Indies team for the final that we should look at. So, I eliminated a few players, the Gayles, the Badrees, etc. And I said, ‘Carlos Brathwaite’. He is built like a house, he is bowling well, he could be a game-changer. I never said, he would. I just said ‘he could be’ and he is someone to look out for," he said in a video shared by the T20 World Cup Twitter handle.
Brathwaite was not a famous name in international cricket before he smoked Stokes for four sixes in the final over and Bishop made the moment awe-inspiring with his commentary.
Recalling how he got to commentate on the final ball, Bishop said: “So, the West Indies team had been through a lot. I felt from being around the team. There was a sort of a fire burning in them. When that moment came and Carlos did, because I thought they were behind in the game and Carlos did what he did. It was just the passion that came out."
“I have always said that, I didn’t want the moment. David Lloyd was on call lead. I did not want it. He handed it over to me and I was scared when he did that. All of a sudden, I was thrust into that position. It was just the emotion coming out. I sort of subconsciously remembered what I had said about Carlos the day before, when I told the businessman to look out for this fella, and I was kind of speaking to them, ‘remember the name’."
For the T20 World Cup 2021, West Indies are slotted in Group 1 of Super 12 alongside England, Australia, South Africa and two teams joining from the qualifying round.
The defending champions will open their campaign against England in Dubai on October 23.
