Star-studded TKR weigh options for opener

THE Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) T20 tournament will bowl off with a battle between three-time champions Trinbago Knight Riders (TKR) and the consistent Guyana Amazon Warriors, at Brian Lara Cricket Academy, in Tarouba, on Tuesday, at 10 am.

The opener will be the first match of a doubleheader at the venue as defending champions Barbados Tridents will tackle St Kitts and Nevis Patriots at 5.30 pm. The entire tournament will be held in Trinidad because of the covid19 pandemic with matches at Brian Lara and at the Queen’s Park Oval in St Clair. The final will be held at Brian Lara, on September 10.

TKR, champions in 2015, 2017 and 2018, are a formidable team on paper with top international players and a lot of T20 experience.

“The coaches as usual have that difficult task of selection,” TKR team manager Colin Borde told Newsday.

Captain Kieron Pollard, who has played more than 500 T20 matches, and coach Brendon McCullum will have a tough task in choosing the starting XI with the likes of local players Dwayne Bravo, Darren Bravo, Lendl Simmons, Sunil Narine and Khary Pierre in the 17-man squad.

The international players that Pollard can depend on are Colin Munro, Ali Khan, Fawad Ahmed, Sikandar Raza, wicketkeeper Tim Seifert and 48-year-old Pravin Tambe.

“The group of players were selected for this tournament to provide options as the coaches see fit based on opposition, conditions and a host of factors. Ultimately the players are here to perform and we are all excited about this new journey that we are about to embark upon.”

The only core member TKR have lost is wicketkeeper Denesh Ramdin, who will play for Patriots this year.

Borde said the players are upbeat ahead of the opener. “The mood is really good and optimistic. The players are certainly ready to get to playing cricket.”

The tournament will be completed in just over three weeks, compared to the 2019 edition which lasted five and a half weeks. “It’s a short sharp tournament with so many games coming at a quick pace, that it’s important to get runs on the board very early and keep that momentum,” Borde said.

TKR fell one short of the final in 2019, losing to the Tridents in qualifier two at Brian Lara. TKR’s bowling attack took a hit last year as medium-pacer Dwayne missed the entire tournament after suffering a fractured finger days before the tournament bowled off. Off-spinner Narine also missed five matches because of a finger injury. Dwayne and Narine are expected to be available for the duration of the tournament and with leg spinner Ahmed, fast bowler Khan, left-arm spinner Pierre and leg spinner Tambe the bowling line up is solid.

Amazon Warriors won 11 matches on the trot last year, including ten preliminary matches, but lost in the final to the Tridents at Brian Lara. It was the fifth time Amazon Warriors lost in the final in the seven-year history of the tournament, as the Guyana franchise continues to chase its first title.

Amazon Warriors have kept its core of players from 2019 with captain Chris Green, vice-captain Nicholas Pooran, Imran Tahir, Shimron Hetmyer, Brandon King and Keemo Paul all back with the team this year. The Guyana franchise will be without its 2019 captain Shaoib Malik, but the experienced Ross Taylor of New Zealand has been added to boost the batting line up.

Amazon Warriors team manager Omar Khan, said, “We are very excited. The team is feeling very confident. It has been much more of a mental aspect of preparation this year than actual practice sessions on the field of play because we have not really had any opportunity except two (sessions).”

Most of the players ended their 14-day quarantine a few days ago and were allowed to start training.

Amazon Warriors were scheduled to have another training session at UWI SPEC on Monday, but it was cancelled due to rain.

Khan said it is a levelling playing field with the entire tournament being held in TT. “All teams have to play under the same conditions despite the fact that TKR is the home team. Their crowd support has been a tremendous asset to them, so I think it will now be up to all teams to handle playing under the different circumstances and different conditions.”

Khan said Taylor’s influence in the team is valuable as he has been guiding the youngsters. Khan said he has been a “mentor to the younger players” and is “always willing to assist and share his experience and his knowledge of the game.”

UPCOMING FIXTURES (Brian Lara Cricket Academy)

Tuesday

Trinbago Knight Riders (TKR) vs Guyana Amazon Warriors, 10 am

Barbados Tridents vs St Kitts and Nevis Patriots, 5.30 pm

Wednesday

Jamaica Tallawahs vs St Lucia Zouks, 10 am

Amazon Warriors vs Patriots, 5.30 pm

Thursday

Zouks vs Tridents, 10 am

TKR vs Tallawahs, 5.30 pm

Saturday

Patriots vs Zouks, 10 am

Amazon Warriors vs Tallawahs, 2.15 pm

Sunday

TKR vs Tridents, 10 am

Amazon Warriors vs Zouks, 2.15 pm

SQUADS

Trinbago Knight Riders

Kieron Pollard (captain), Dwayne Bravo, Sunil Narine, Colin Munro, Fawad Ahmed, Darren Bravo, Lendl Simmons, Khary Pierre, Tim Siefert, Sikandar Raza, Anderson Phillip, Pravin Tambe, Jayden Seales, Amir Jangoo, Tion Webster, Akeal Hosein, Ali Khan

Jamaica Tallawahs

Rovman Powell (captain), Andre Russell, Sandeep Lamichhane, Carlos Brathwaite, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Glenn Phillips, Chadwick Walton, Oshane Thomas, Asif Ali, Fidel Edwards, Preston McSween, Jermaine Blackwood, Nicholas Kirton, Ramaal Lewis, Nkrumah Bonner, Veerasammy Permaul, Ryan Persaud

St Lucia Zouks

Daren Sammy (captain), Roston Chase, Mohammed Nabi, Najibullah Zadran, Andre Fletcher, Kesrick Williams, Scott Kuggeleijn, Chemar Holder, Obed McCoy, Rahkeem Cornwall, Mark Deyal, Zahir Khan, Kimani Melius, Leniko Boucher, Kavem Hodge, Javelle Glen, Saad Bin Zafar

St Kitts and Nevis Patriots

Rayad Emrit (captain), Chris Lynn, Ben Dunk, Evin Lewis, Nick Kelly, Sohail Tanvir, Ish Sodhi, Sheldon Cottrell, Denesh Ramdin, Imran Khan, Alzarri Joseph, Joshua Da Silva, Dominic Drakes, Colin Archibald, Jon Russ Jaggesar, Jahmar Hamilton

Barbados Tridents

Jason Holder (captain) Rashid Khan, Corey Anderson, Shamarh Brooks, Mitchell Santner, Johnson Charles, Shai Hope, Hayden Walsh Jnr, Ashley Nurse, Jonathan Carter, Raymon Reifer, Kyle Mayers, Joshua Bishop, Nyeem Young, Justin Greaves, Keon Harding, Shayan Jahangir

Guyana Amazon Warriors

Chris Green (captain), Imran Tahir, Nicholas Pooran, Brandon King, Ross Taylor, Shimron Hetmyer, Keemo Paul, Sherfane Rutherford, Romario Shepherd, Naveen Ul Haq, Chandrapaul Hemraj, Kevin Sinclair, Ashmeade Nedd, Odean Smith, Anthony Bramble, Jasdeep Singh, Kissoondath Magram