TKR profile: Jaden Carmichael shows he belongs

Nevisian youngster Jaden Carmichael, 20, was one of two players to transfer from St Kitts and Nevis Patriots to Trinbago Knight Riders (TKR) for the 2023 Republic Bank Caribbean Premier League T20 tournament.

The left-arm spinner followed in the footsteps of his former Patriots captain Dwayne Bravo, who left Patriots to return to the TT franchise in May. Later on, Carmichael was announced to also be on the move, after just one year there.

The move for him has proven to be a fruitful one, despite him playing in only two of their ten games so far. So far, he picked up an impressive 1/27 against Jamaica Tallawahs, including the prized wicket of captain Brandon King, and was wicket-less for 13 runs against St Lucia Kings.

Against Tallawahs, he was an unused batsman and finished on one not out when they faced Kings. His highest score of the tourney was achieved with Patriots last year, nine not out.

Carmichael, however, is in a good place among the TKR setup, to improve his craft and gain experience from some of the tournament’s best players.

Although he’s been looking on from the stands for the majority of the CPLT20, Carmichael’s witnessed a lot of good cricket from his teammates, and has been privy to their internal team talks which focus on competitive strategy and tactical play. These elements are critical to his development as an upcoming player. The inspirational voices of captain Kieron Pollard and veteran Dwayne Bravo will also help Carmichael understand what it takes to succeed at the highest level.

Unluckily, Carmichael was one of two players to test positive for covid19 at the Under-19 World Cup in Trinidad last year, and missed out on this golden opportunity.

In 2021, however, he was the lead bowler for West Indies U19s in their match against South Africa, where he bagged 3/25, and championed the victory.

He’s been a regular starter for the regional U19s and will be utilising this year’s tourney to adapt to the professionals in the team and learn from their ways.

Overall, Carmichael needs more game time to boost his averages. For WIU19s, he’s played seven matches, scored just 14 runs and has a bowling average of 70.50.

TKR have already qualified for next week’s playoffs after finishing as one of the top two preliminary round teams, with one match remaining against Guyana Amazon Warriors, at Providence Stadium in Guyana, on Saturday.

Carmichael could be in the line-up on Saturday showcasing his skills on what is expected to be a spin-friendly surface in Guyana.