PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC – Hosts Trinidad & Tobago Red Force have packed their side with familiar faces for this year’s West Indies Super50 Cup, which opens Tuesday.
Not one of the 14-member squad is uncapped in this format, but only left-handed opener Mark Deyal is yet to play for Red Force in this tournament.
All but discarded West Indies left-hander batsman Darren Bravo, the new captain, as well as long-standing West Indies fast bowler Shannon Gabriel, long-serving batsman Jason Mohammed, opener Kjorn Ottley, and pacer Tion Webster featured in the Caribbean Premier League that was played between August and September.
Deyal, mercurial international off-spinner Sunil Narine, West Indies left-arm spinner Akeal Hosein, West Indies fast bowler Jayden Seales, and fellow pacer Terrence Hinds were all part of the Trinbago Knight Riders squad that reached the Grand Final of the CPL, where they were beaten by hosts Guyana Amazon Warriors, which may serve as a bit of a motivation for the Red Force.
West Indies left-hander Nicholas Pooran, last year’s captain and another TKR member, was listed as unavailable for selection the Super50 Cup, and long-serving leg-spinner Imran Khan and international pacer Anderson Phillip were glaring omissions from the squad, but Red Force appear well covered in every department they represent.
Pooran may have given the batting a competitive edge, but Bravo, his deputy and West Indies wicketkeeper-batsman Joshua Da Silva, international left-hander Evin Lewis, Deyal, Mohammed, and Ottley, all have enough experience and are no slouches with the bat.
Squad:
Darren Bravo (captain), Joshua Da Silva (vice-captain), Yannic Cariah, Mark Deyal, Shannon Gabriel, Terrence Hinds, Akeal Hosein, Evin Lewis, Jason Mohammed, Sunil Narine, Kjorn Ottley, Khary Pierre, Jayden Seales, Tion Webster.
