There’s about a 0.27% chance of one person sharing a birthday with another, and Matthew Forde shares his with Andre Russell (April 29). It’s no surprise that the Russell comparisons have followed him for a few years. The noise has only gotten louder after Forde hit the joint-fastest ODI fifty, off 16 balls, in Belfast last year, to go level with AB de Villiers.

Those are “big shoes to fill,” Forde said around then. But when fit – he was nursing shoulder issues last year – Forde has played as an allrounder in the lower-middle order while being a useful swing bowler in the powerplay for West Indies. He also replaced Russell in the West Indies squad during the Australia series at home after Russell signed off in Jamaica last year.

Now at his maiden T20 World Cup, Forde has stepped up to produce a miserly economy rate of 4.40 in three games and averages 11 with the ball. Although he did not play in the win against England, Forde is the most economical bowler for anyone who has bowled more than five overs this World Cup.

His best game was arguably against Italy. That might have been a dead-rubber for the Super Eight, but West Indies were struggling in the final overs in the first innings. His innovative shots behind the wicket to score an unbeaten eight-ball 16 were the reason they finished on 165, a par score at Eden Gardens.

Italy were the happier side at the break, but Forde dented their hopes of an upset early with his two powerplay wickets and overall figures of 3 for 19. That spell was a follow-up from his 1 for 10 in four overs against Nepal.

He credits it to a “mindset shift” 18 months ago when fitness took centre-stage. Forde signs off on his Instagram pictures with a hashtag reading “Mustang”, a pun that goes well with his surname but also reflects a strong but free-spirited personality. The captions on those social media posts are quotes of motivation, the kind that look good on a boardroom wall.

“That’s a funny one,” Forde said from the sidelines of the T20 World Cup. “My mom always told me I had a high self-esteem. So one thing with me is to always be confident. I always believe I can do anything.”

Matthew Forde celebrates a wicket AFP/Getty Images

At this World Cup, the quote he is most inspired by is “create your own history”, echoed by head coach Daren Sammy to the team, he revealed. Conversations around West Indies this campaign seem to date back to 2016 (or even further back, to the dominance of the Marshalls and Garners during some media interactions), and Forde said Sammy wants the team to play in such a way that 2016 is forgotten for once and the class of 2026 writes their own legacy.

“It’s for us to put West Indies back up there on the map again and create our own history,” Forde said after the team finished Group C unbeaten. “As a collective group, we’re coming together at the right time. Our camaraderie is there and everyone has one goal. We’ve been training very hard, the boys are quite hungry. With the Super Eights coming up, we’ll have to play even better cricket.”

Forde’s best bowling performances also came against top teams, a quality that’s irreplaceable in a stage like the Super Eight. He has two three-fors from a 2024 T20I series against South Africa, the team West Indies will meet on February 26 in Ahmedabad.

His batting contributions in international cricket have largely been useful cameos, but earlier this month, he impressed by hitting a 26-ball unbeaten 52 in the World Cup warm-ups when five of the top seven batters were out for single-digit scores against an Afghanistan attack that looked rampaging up until then.

Forde’s addition to the playing XI for the Nepal and Italy fixtures was an easy decision to make for the team management after Romario Shepherd picked up a niggle after the England clash. But if Shepherd is fit, leaving Forde out is no longer a straightforward call.