Trinbago Knight Riders, the perennial pre-tournament favourites in CPL, have had an up-and-down season so far, but considering the number of challenges they’ve had to deal with, including injuries to Dwayne Bravo, Sunil Narine and Andre Russell, their captain Kieron Pollard isn’t too perturbed.
While Bravo has called time on his playing career after a groin injury cut short his CPL 2024 stint, Narine is working his way back from a quad strain. As for Russell, who was nursing a hamstring injury at the start of the tournament, his workload is being managed. To add to their troubles, USA fast bowler Ali Khan had been sidelined from the entire CPL 2024 with injury.
“From a performance perspective, we’ve played eight games – won five and lost three. We’ll take that,” Pollard said before TKR’s final home game of the season, against Barbados Royals. “The first step in any tournament is to qualify. If we were in fifth or sixth place, it would be a different conversation. So, you expect this to happen. This is T20 cricket but given all the obstacles that have transpired throughout the season, we will take where we are [fourth place] at this particular time.
“We still have an opportunity to finish in the top two. We still have to play good cricket and we still have to play consistent cricket but this happens. The tournament has got a bit harder, despite having names on paper, all teams are stronger and they are playing very, very good cricket. Tactically, they are up there in terms of how cricket should be played, which is a good sign for us in the Caribbean.”
Having had the services of Bravo, Narine, Russell, Pollard and Nicholas Pooran over the years, TKR put together what was arguably the most star-studded T20 line-up. In CPL 2024, they have unearthed some new T20 talents, including 21-year-old Shaqkere Parris and 27-year-old Keacy Carty, who has already represented West Indies in both ODI and Test cricket.
Just six T20s old and an emerging player in the CPL, Parris has also attracted attention outside of the Caribbean. While speaking on his Youtube channel recently, R Ashwin said Parris has Pollard’s “touch” after he had cracked 57 off 33 balls against St Lucia Kings in Gros Islet. Then, in Port-of-Spain, he launched Guyana Amazon Warriors’ Gudakesh Motie for a 124-metre six. While Pollard was also pleased with Parris’ progress, he added that the youngsters in the region need to develop their game even further.
“It augurs well. You talk about his scores in Barbados but he also played here in Trinidad as well for Victoria in the concluded local season as well,” Pollard said of Parris. “Again, it’s something as a team we had looked at in terms of scouting and he coming onto the scene and get an opportunity – play five games – and having a conversation about just not playing because you have to play but giving us an opportunity to select him as a normal player when that time comes is what exactly he’s done as an individual. So kudos must go to him as well, taking up the mantle to show that this is what he’s made of.
“But if I can say this we would have loved to have some local guys – local from Trinidad as well – in the squad from a performance perspective. And that’s how we look at it. Not just because you’re from Trinidad, we’re going to select you, we look at performances as well. So that means our own players need to have a look at themselves and persons above as well to develop what is needed going forward.
“This Under-23 is made for local guys to get the opportunity to fly the flag. For Parris and Nathan Edward, they’ve shown us what they can do and hopefully in the future we can have more of those talents coming through because we need the next batches of the Dwayne Bravos, the Sunil Narines and Kieron Pollards, Lendl Simmons and [Denesh] Ramdins from Trinidad as well. So, a lot of work to be done on that.”
