CPL 2021 is expected to bring real fun and excitement

Dear Editor
The 9th Edition of the Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) blasts off on Thursday with the fully-pumped-up Guyana Amazon Warriors (GAW) playing against the defending Champions, Trinbago Knight Ridders.
Firebrands Nicholas Pooran, Shimron Hetmyer, Brandon King and Chandrapaul Hemraj are all capable of destroying any bowling attack in this year’s competition. The GAW would also benefit from the experience and expertise, and relish the inclusion of the veterans Shoaib Malik and Mohammed Hafeez in the team.
However, it is the batting and bowling all-rounders that would add real strength and depth to the batting. Romario Shepherd and Kevin Sinclair are both capable of batting in the lower order.
The leadership of the GAW should not allow the four champion batters to bat in a cluster; they should play a ‘high-breed’ tactic and bring up a ‘pinch’ hitter to bat early in the innings, while the strong batsmen could consolidate in the middle in the event of the team losing early wickets.
The bowling also looks very strong, and is surely capable of restricting good batting line-up. The spinners would enjoy the inclusion of Imran Tahir, Kevin Sinclair, Ashmead Nedd and Gudakesh Motie, along with the experienced Malik and Hafeez. The ‘quicks’: Shepherd, the Smiths and Naveen ul-Haq, are each capable of bowling a good line and length.
The Warriors seem to be a balanced team, and with the experienced players, they are expected to give a good account of themselves.
It is time that the cricketing world concentrates heavily on discipline and fitness, and with magnificent fielding, we should see man–of–the-match coming with players whose outstanding fielding helps their team to win matches. There must be no room for indiscipline and poor fielding.
The Trinbago Knight Riders certainly look very strong on paper. Skipper Kieron Pollard is the West Indies captain and he could win a match on his day. The batting is strong with overseas player Colin Munro in very good form presently. Lendl Simmons, Darren Bravo and Denesh Ramdin are the real strength of this team’s batting.
However, they will depend heavily on their bowling strength. Fast bowler Jayden Seales will be their trump card, while their bowling attack will depend heavily on their spinners.
Overseas player Yasir Shah is not in form, and the Trinbago Knight Riders will depend heavily on the veteran Sunil Narine along with Akeal Hosein and Khary Pierre. It would be interesting to see how they fit in with their four overseas players.
This year’s CPL will see the six teams: Barbados Royals, Guyana Amazon Warriors, Jamaica Tallawahs, St. Kitts and Nevis Patriots, Saint Lucia Kings and Trinbago Knight Riders, competing over twenty-one days.
There will be double-headers and triple-headers. During the preliminaries, each team will play against each other twice, and the four top teams will play off in the semifinals. The finals will be keenly contested by the two teams that play better cricket during the tournament.

Sincerly,
Neil Kumar