The West Indies will not have the services of their celebrated names at the T20 World Cup but captain Nicholas Pooran feels the presence of star power doesn’t guarantee success in a team sport.

As many as 12 players, who took part in the World Cup 12 months ago, have not travelled to Australia for different reasons.

The team will be missing the likes of Kieron Pollard, Dwayne Bravo and Lendl Simmons who all have retired from international cricket. Andre Russell and Sunil Narine are also not here.

“I think it should be a balance with experience and younger players. If you look at it, there were a lot of big names when we won those two World Cups, but we also had a lot of big names in the last year’s World Cup, as well, and we didn’t qualify.

“To answer that question, it plays a part. I think not only the big names but experienced players... it is about our team performance.

“Obviously Australia won last year and they didn’t have too many big names, but they obviously had a team and that was proven that that was enough for them to win the World Cup,” said Pooran ahead of their opener against Scotland on Monday.

In the second match on Monday, Ireland will take on Zimbabwe.

Mitchell fitness

All-rounder Daryl Mitchell is targeting a return to action in New Zealand’s second match of the World Cup against Afghanistan on October 26, head coach Gary Stead said on Sunday. He will miss their opener, against hosts and champions Australia in Sydney on Saturday. Mitchell fractured his finger while batting in the nets earlier this month.

Written with inputs from Reuters & PTI