The 1oth season of the CPL Men starts today and the first match is scheduled to be played between St Kitts & Nevis Patriots and Jamaica Tallawahs. The Final day of this month-long Competition will be held on Friday, September 30.
Trinbago Knight Riders men’s team captain Kieron Pollard thinks the 2022 squad is equipped with all the ingredients to secure a fifth CPL title.
“When you look at the team, on paper we have a lot of world-class players, guys who have played around the world and done well.”
TKR Captain Pollard, who spoke further, said that the arrival of Andre Russell was something that he and the team had been waiting for a while.
“Finally, Andre (Russell) has come to the sister franchise or the baby franchise of the (Kolkata) Knight Riders. It is something we have been looking forward to for a very long time. His numbers speak for itself, in terms of what he has achieved as a cricketer and as a T20 cricketer around the world.”
Dwayne Bravo, the captain of St Kitts & Nevis Patriots, who won the 6ixty trophy for the first time, said that he got a good foundation for the CPL by winning the Universe Boss trophy.
“A few day ago (during) the first ever Universe Boss Trophy, right here in St Kitts, we won it. So, its a good foundation. We are starting to build and believe as a franchise that we can also be a dominant force in the CPL.”
Bravo also indicated that they are looking forward to defending their title while providing good entertainment for fans.
“We looking forward to defending our title. But not only that, we looking forward to playing a brand of cricket to entertain the fans.”
Trinbago Knight Riders is the most successful franchise in the history of the Caribbean Premier League – the inaugural tournament in 2013. The Trinidad and Tobago-based team has won three of the last five finals (2017, 2018, and 2020) and four titles overall.
In addition to their strong batting, TKR have a world-class spin attack including Sri Lankan duo Young Maheesh Theekshana and Experience Seekkuge Prasanna along with local players Sunil Narine, Akeel Hossain, and Khary Pierre.
He also said about the current limited overs skipper that he is multi-talented. Commenting further, the TKR leader,
“Our very own Nicholas Pooran, the West Indies (white-ball) captain presently. We have high hopes for him in everything that he does when it comes to leading the West Indies team. When he steps on the cricket field to produce the type of powerful knocks that we have grown accustomed to. Multi-talented. We see that he (Pooran) is bowling off-spin as well, so he adds to the contingent (of spinners).”
And,
“We are looking at what we can achieve as a team. What we can do on the field as individuals, inclusive of what the team requires, and hopefully the experience of everyone can bind that together.”
Trinbago Knight Riders men Squad: Kieron Pollard, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Nicholas Pooran, Akeal Hosein, Jayden Seales, Tion Webster, Maheesh Theekshana, Seekkuge Prasanna, Tim Seifert, Ali Khan, Colin Munro, Khary Pierre, Anderson Phillip, Terrence Leonar Hinds, Terrence Leonar Hinds.
Unfortunately cricket is not played on paper