T20 cricket at its best in island nation: CPL 2021

Hello Friends,

West Indies has always been a nice place to play cricket due to its scenic surroundings, pleasant weather, supportive crowd and above all a committed bunch of players who believes in playing hard and party harder. Over the years the island nations' players have shown strong inclination towards the shortest format of the game. They are the most sought after names in global T20 leagues. Two World T20 titles is a testament to their dominance in the format. Caribbean Premier League(CPL) is their marquee T20 league  through which local talents showcase their expertise. CPL is one of the popular global T20 leagues which provides local players the exposure to share dressing rooms with the best in the business and learn from them. Despite the usual complications that have come into picture since the spread of Covid-19 pandemic the organizers ensured that the islanders don't get deprived of  exciting  T20 cricketing action. Ninth edition of the league was full of power hitting, exceptional leadership, supremely talented youngsters. 

Every edition produces a plethora of young talents from various parts of  the island nation. Some of them get the opportunity to represent West Indies in international cricket. This year was no exception. Players like Romario Shepherd, Dominic Drakes, Sherfane Rutherford, Keemo Paul, Fabian Allen, Jayden Seales, Kyle Mayers are definitely going to take West Indies cricket to a different level. Proper mentoring should keep them in good shape. There have been quite a few inspirational moments in terms of individual performances, team performances, leadership. Let's take a look on the key ones from the ninth edition of the league.

New mentors in town

Most of the players try to help the next generation in being one of the best in the respective sport  using their own experience gained over the years. It's a way of giving back to your profession which has  served you successfully all these years. That is why game of cricket is seeing lot of senior players turning mentors, some even during their playing career itself. They are passionate about spreading their knowledge and expertise among the young ones to help them grow. West Indies cricket has produced several legendary cricketers over the years across formats. T20 cricket has its own heroes too. We will talk about two such T20 legends who are helping the next generation players with their rich experience.

Dwayne Bravo

Dwayne Bravo is a popular name in world cricket, especially in T20 arena. He has been a globe-trotter in terms of playing the shortest format of the game & being part of the several champion teams. In the current edition of CPL he became only the second player in the world to play 500 T20 matches (His teammate Keiron Pollard being the first one). That tells the story of his vast experience in the format. He is certainly a great role model for youngsters in this format. In his urge to help young players in improving their skills he decided to make a switch this year from his home franchise of Trinbago Knight Riders to the relatively lesser experienced team of St Kitts & Nevis Patriots. It was an exceptionally brave move  considering his home franchise was the champion last year. But his decision paid off as he led St Kitts franchise to their maiden CPL title this year. It was an exceptional performance from the franchise this year as they started the season with a bang with consecutive wins and ended the season with a splendid performance in the finals. The young brigade of the franchise was outstanding throughout the season. Bravo was instrumental in guiding this young force to the ultimate glory. The match changing innings by young Dominic Drakes in the final is the testament to Bravo's efforts in instilling faith in the players. Players like Evin Lewis, Joshua Da Silva, Fabian Allen, Sherfane Rutherford have come to the teams' rescue time and again.

Bravo with his able leadership has motivated the team along with playing the supporting role with some crucial knocks  & decisive bowling spells. There couldn't have been a better reward than this for Bravo. His passion for the game specially for the shortest format has made him come out of his international retirement & represent his country in T20 format. Considering he is a part of the West Indies team for the upcoming  T20 world  cup in a month's time, similar efforts will definitely be expected from him to inspire his nation to another global title.

Daren Sammy

Another player with an established stature of being an inspiring leader also played the role of a mentor perfectly for his franchise. Daren Sammy was appointed as the mentor of St Lucia Kings franchise this year adding to his role of a captain in the previous edition for the same franchise ( Then St Lucia Zouks). Daren Sammy requires no introduction. He is one of the most prolific and selfless leaders of current generation. As a leader he has always been instrumental  & two World T20 titles as captain is a testament to that (Click here for our previous post on Sammy). He has led his home team of  St Lucia to their maiden CPL final last year. He has always been a guiding force for the players of the team. This year management decided to give him the additional  responsibility within the leadership group  as a mentor  with the captaincy duties being handed over to another experienced campaigner Faf du Plessis. He didn't disappoint this year too in his new role. His team reached their second consecutive CPL final but couldn't cross the line like last year.

A win in the final could have been the icing on the cake for this ever smiling Caribbean legend. But reaching consecutive finals is also a tremendous effort & the entire team along with the leadership group should be lauded for that. Sammy was seen talking to the players or the leadership group during the match many a times in an extremely animated manner. That shows his involvement in the game even when he is not on the ground. He definitely would have passed on his valuable inputs during the team meetings.  He is growing in stature as an inspiring figure day by day. Now being a part of the West Indies cricket administration (He has been appointed as an independent non member director of CWI) he is definitely going to add new dimensions to his already successful cricketing journey.

Captain courageous

Captain is a very important part of any cricket team. The stakes become even higher when it's the shortest format of the game. I am going to talk about two captains from the ninth edition of CPL who are contrasting in their experiences. Nicholas Pooran , the young West Indian who is quite new to the captaincy role impressed in leading his franchise Guyana Amazon Warriors to semi finals. Full credit to him for trying his best in leading a team which has reached finals five times in previous editions but never won. Unfortunately this  year too they could not get hold of that elusive trophy. But Pooran's efforts as a captain is definitely appreciable. Leading a team filled with T20 stalwarts like Shoaib Malik, Mohammad Hafeez, Imran Tahir and a group of talented local players is never easy. But he ensured that he could adopt  a balancing approach to the best of his ability along with his role of an important batter for the team. Recently he got a taste of captaincy at the international stage while leading West Indies in a T20 series against Australia in the absence of regular captain Pollard. He is definitely going to be a future leader. His appointment as the vice captain for the upcoming T20 world cup is another move in that direction. He will definitely flourish as a leader in coming days with more experience and exposure to challenging situations on field.

Faf du Plessis, former South African captain is a leader of substantial repute. His appointment as the captain of St Lucia Kings came as no surprise as he was the right man for the job along with the likes of head coach Andy Flower & mentor Daren Sammy. Though the start was not good for him as a batter this year, he knows how to bounce back. His batting efforts contributed immensely to the success of his team along with his leadership skills. Though he was not available for the knockout phase of the league due to an injury, that  did not stop his team from playing an aggressive brand of cricket. He ended up as one of the leading scorers  including a match winning century. His calming influence mixed with controlled aggression helped his team to get into their second successive CPL final. Hopefully coming editions can see more of leader Faf along with he lifting that coveted trophy.

Not a test specialist anymore

Lot of times we hear about this debate of adjustment of test batters in T20 format and vice versa. The myth of typical test batters can't be successful in the shortest version of the game is slowly fading away. Players like Virat Kohli, Steve Smith, Kane Williamson, David Warner, Rohit Sharma are changing the trends. One more name added to that list after the ninth edition of CPL. Roston Chase, the regular test all rounder for West Indies had a breakthrough season this year that led him to the award of the player of the tournament along with a maiden call up to the West Indies T20 set up for the upcoming world cup. He had been the mainstay of the  St Lucia Kings batting line up this season adding to his off spin bowling. Generally known as a technically solid test batter, chase demonstrated his power hitting abilities this season. He ended up as the leading run scorer for the season with 400+ runs along with 10 wickets while bowling during crucial moments. He is also one of the leading  six hitters this season along with the likes of Evin Lewis, Keiron Pollard, Chris Gayle. That shows his intent to adapt to changing environment and succeed. Definitely West Indies has got another reliable player for all  formats. Considering the pitches for the World T20 might be on the slower side, his role as an innings builder along with his off spin bowling will play a key part in the defending champions' effort for the third global T20 title. 

Stay tuned for more in this space.

Image Credit:

Helenabella, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

paddynapper, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons