The Lone Star Hotel in Barbados hosted the first major event for Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) 2017, the very important Player Draft. This year saw 258 of the best players from around the world in a record CPL Player Draft pool and since not all were sold there were the expected elation and disappointment.
Nevertheless, all squads are now known and the anticipation is already alarming as the Caribbean prepares for the biggest party in sport from August 1 to September 9.
Omar Khan
Guyana Amazon Warriors will again hunt their first title and to get the task done, team manager Omar Khan said his unit opted for a more balanced team as compared to last year. “Obviously we wanted to pick a team that would be balanced in the context of what we had last year.”
In a direct swap for opener Dwayne Smith, who returned to his original franchise Barbados Tridents, Khan said their first choice was hard hitting Jamaican wicket keeper/ batsman, Chadwick Walton, who they strategically acquired at US$110,000 since it was their first pick of the draft.
In recent times Walton has been in good form and he marked his record signing with a commanding century for Jamaica Scorpions against Guyana Jaguars on Friday at Sabina Park. According to Khan, the Jamaican’s wicket keeping attributes is also considered as an asset.
Afghanistan leg spinner Rashid Khan, who has been making a name for himself and having being bought during the Indian Premier League (IPL) at a high price was also bought by Warriors to create a solid composition.
These two players along with the other four new comers Gajanand Singh, Roshon Primus, Keon Joseph and Steven Taylor and the retained players are needed to make the unit a balance one.
The Warriors who lost in the 2016 final to the Tallawahs retained nine players with Sohail Tanvir, Martin Guptill, Chris Lynn, Jason Mohammed, Rayad Emrit, Assad Fudadin, Steven Jacobs, Veerasammy Permaul and Steven Katwaroo forming the core of the team this season. However, this alone cannot bring Warriors success but a lot depends on getting these players to work together. “You could have a strong team on paper but at the end of the day is getting those guys to perform together as a unit and that has always been our team philosophy in terms of getting the guys to understand that when they come to represent the Guyana Amazon Warriors, they are representing one team with one common purpose,” reasoned Khan.
Team composition is very important this time around for Guyana Amazon Warriors, especially after reaching the final on three occasions but failed to win the title. Hopefully, with a balanced team composition there will be roaring for the title this season.
