espnstar.com’s Rajarshi Gupta caught up with Trinidad and Tobago coach Kelvin Williams for an exclusive chat ahead of the CL T20.

Williams sounds and talks like the old-school coach. He does exude confidence and that is a buzz word as the Airtel Champions League Twenty20 draws close.

Cricket in the West Indies is going through a massive crisis, what with a second string team slotted to play in the elite ICC Champions Trophy in South Africa from September 22. Many believe these men will be easy meet in a tournament for the best eight ODI teams in the world.

However, T&T will have no such dilemma. When they come down to India this October, studded with stars like Dwayne Bravo, Darren Ganga, Lendl Simmons, Ravi Rampaul and Denesh Ramdin, the team from the Caribbean will have a purpose.

These are names that have turned things around for the Calypso Kings- somewhat- over the last decade. The West Indies had started to compete again.

They may not have been world beaters, the fraternity had to take them seriously.

While the national team has had to do without some of their biggest names after a long drawn battle over pay dispute, Williams has little reason to worry.

In fact, he is upbeat when he tells us: “Our preparations are going extremely well. We have a lot of international players in our side and we have to show people that T&T is a strong unit.”

Does he believe triumph at the Airtel Champions League Twenty20 will have a huge impact on the game in the Caribbean Islands?

“Indeed it will. The way I see it, a CL T20 win will be a huge revival for cricket in the West Indies. If we go on and win this event, it will be a big achievement for these guys.”

At a time when most young athletes are thinking of other alternatives, Williams knows what is talking about. He feels and perhaps rightly so, that Twenty20 cricket will revive other formats of the game in the Islands.

Make no mistake. That does not mean they fear pressure- far from it: “Pressure? No pressure maan. We played in the Stanford Super Series and the boys handled the pressure back then.”

Glory days beckon the Windies and the men from Brian Lara’s land know, there is no bigger stage than the Champions League Twenty20 to herald a new era in the game.