The West Indies team is currently in a state of confusion regarding the 2022 T20 World Cup selection and Expressing different opinions about those senior players. However, Dr. Desmond Haynes had earlier stated that the upcoming CPL tournament will be used to select the final squad for the World Cup.
“If you’ve got competition and somebody is playing well, I think his name should really come up for selection, so I think performance is very important to us. We did not say we have picked the World Cup team, so all the games leading up to the World Cup we must take them into consideration.”
The Caribbean Premier League is a six-team domestic T20 competition played across the Caribbean. It has been running since 2013 and the tenth season is scheduled to begin on Wednesday, August 31, with the first match against last year’s champions St Kitts & Nevis Patriots and Jamaica Tallawahs. The final will be held a month later on Friday, September 30.
Accordingly, there are several batsmen who can be guessed to be given special attention in this tournament.
01. Shimron Hetmyer (Guyana Amazon Warriors)
Hetmayr was temporarily withdrawn from the national team after failing the fitness test. However, he managed to clear the fitness test he participated in before the recently concluded India T20 series.
Hetmyer, representing the Guyana Amazon Warriors this time, was nominated for its leadership a few days ago. Last year, Hetmyer scored 218 runs in 11 matches with an average of 24.22. His highest score that year was 54 which included two fifties.
2. Rovman Powell (Jamaican Tallawahs)
Rovman Powell can be mentioned as another hope of the team in this year’s T20 World Cup. Powell has rebuilt his game over the last year or two and is reaping the benefits as a result. He can hit the ball long and put opponents under pressure in a quick time.
In the concluded “6IXTY” Men’s competition, Rovman Powell scored 77 runs in 3 matches with an excellent strike rate and made a good entry into the CPL tournament. Powell played a valuable role for the team in the last few T20 matches he played. In the last five innings he played, he scored 27 not out, 21, and 18 against New Zealand, and 9 and 24 against India.
03 Andre Russell (Trinbago Knight Riders)
Russell can be called the most Dangerous all-rounder currently in the West Indies. Having gained a lot of experience playing in T20 leagues around the world, he is simply unstoppable if he stays on the wicket for a while.
There has been a lot of talk about him in recent weeks, with the West Indies head coach saying he can’t beg to the players and Desmond Haynes saying Russell won’t play in the World Cup based on information he found. However, Russell stated that West Indies are still his number one team and hopes to win a World Cup or two for the Caribbean.
However, Russell is another hope in the World Cup and his World Cup journey will be determined by his performances in the CPL. The last five innings he played were 72,14,12,17,64.
04. Sherfane Rutherford (St. Kitts and Nevis Patriots)
Sherfane Rutherford is one of the purest hitters of the cricket ball. There is a very good demand in various leagues across the world and hence extensive experience in the T20 format. Small and thin this player’s day, can be absolutely ruthless with the bowlers and tear apart any bowling attack.
He showed that well in the finished 6ixty tournament. He hit four back-to-back sixes against the St Lucia Kings to win the match, while his 15-ball 50 against the Knight Riders showcased his dangerousness. He scored 74 runs in 3 matches played at a strong strike rate of 352.38. It is the highest strike rate by a batsman who has scored more than 50 runs in the competition.
Accordingly, it can be thought that he will be a player who will attract the attention of many people in the CPL, and a place in the upcoming World Cup squad will be allocated according to his performance in the CPL.
05. Evin Lewis (St. Kitts and Nevis Patriots)
West Indies’ destructive opener Evin Lewis is still ineligible for the team after failing to pass the required fitness tests ahead of the upcoming series. The left-handed opener lastly represented West Indies in the T20 World Cup against Australia in November last year.
This fitness issue of his first starts before the 2020 West Indies tour of Sri Lanka. However, Lewis achieved success against Sri Lanka in March last year thanks to a commitment to fitness and gym work.
Lewis has been called Chris gayle’s template. Gayle once famously said of Evin Lewis that he can stop hitting sixes, but Evin Lewis would go after every ball and every bowler and won’t stop.
Evin Lewis will be the most attention player in this year’s CPL. However, he is a very valuable opening batsman for the upcoming World Cup, and we hope that he will solve all the problems of skill and physical fitness in this Competition.