ExxonMobil Guyana GSL T20… : Preparation, local players, brand of cricket: Tahir answers it all ahead of bowl-off

The Guyana Amazon Warriors (GAW), to the delight of their thousands of Guyanese fans, will be back in action this Thursday as the second edition of the ExxonMobil Guyana Global Super League (GSL) T20 bowls off.
The Amazon Warriors squad have been encamped for over a week now, fine-tuning their skills ahead of the global spectacle.

Captain Imran Tahir, during a press conference on Tuesday morning, fielded several questions regarding his team and their campaign this year, one of which saw Tahir reflecting on their preparation and how it can be a benefit to their performance.
“It’s always nice to come earlier; you get together for a couple of days, and then you know what your squad is, how you want to play your players and where you want to put them into place, and that’s the plan we have, obviously after last year’s disappointment. We didn’t play well in GSL, and I’m the type of guy who likes to put my hand up and be honest,” Tahir shared.
He continued, “So, this year we just planned it would be nice to come early, get together, and now we know the players. There are a couple of players who’re missing, like Michael mentioned. So, for me, it’s going to give us a little bit of benefit. A little better squad than last year, from a planning point of view.”

The CPL-winning GAW captain went on to posit that in some ways, this year’s line-up can be considered better than last year’s.
The skipper explained, “This year we’ve got a really, really good squad. I wouldn’t say last year we didn’t; we had very good players last year, but this year we had more freedom; we could manoeuvre around a lot of players. Like I said, for me to come earlier, it’ just given me the opportunity to ask more questions and find out what we can do better than last year.”
Tahir then faced up to an inquiry regarding the lack of Guyanese players in this year’s GSL team, noting that in spite of the handful of locals this time, he still believes the Amazon Warriors promote local talents the most out of their Caribbean counterparts.
“If you look at our previous four years of CPL cricket, we are the only team that kept most of the Guyanese players in our squad. So, this is the only time we have less, but we’ve still got a few,” Tahir elucidated, “Keemo got injured; otherwise you had Keemo, Sheppy, Hetty, and we’ve got three or four youngsters. So, I strongly believe that we are the only team in the Caribbean that promotes young players from local talent.”
“When you’re coming into play in a competition like that where you know you’re going to get an opposition who’re very experienced and stuff, you need to get a couple of senior players from around the world and the local players, because at the end of the day, everyone is here to win.”
Tahir further assured, “I still believe we’ve got enough Guyanese players in our squad.”
With a vow that they will be playing a better brand of cricket this time around, Tahir encouraged the Guyanese fans to come out in support of their local franchise.
“I think we’d like to see more Guyanese fans this year in the ground. Their support has always been amazing, and that obviously made us achieve what we wanted to achieve. So yeah, things are looking forward. From my point of view, we want to play the brand of cricket that the Guyana Amazon Warriors are known for, and we’re hoping to give Guyanese fans the fun and the kind of cricket they want to watch when they come to the ground. I’m really excited about it, as excited as all my team players are,” the Warriors captain shared.
The Guyana Amazon Warriors (GAW) will suit up for their first game of the 2025 ExxonMobil GSL on Thursday evening, taking on defending champions Rangpur Riders from 19:00 hrs at the Guyana National Stadium, Providence.