Warriors’ management confirms Shoaib Malik as new captain

By Akeem Greene

Pakistani all-rounder and former Barbados Tridents player, Shoaib Mailk will lead the Guyana Amazon Warriors in the sixth edition of the Hero Caribbean Premier League.

This was confirmed on Thursday by the team’s management. 

In June, News Room Sport broke the story that an overseas captain would be appointed since there was wide speculation on who will take up the mantle of leading the Guyana Amazon Warriors this year after several officials had hinted that Rayad Emrit, who captained the Warriors last year, would be overlooked.

At the launching of the ticketing office in Guyana Thursday, which is located at Camp and Quamina Streets, Warriors Operation Manager Omar Khan made the confirmation of Malik’s appointment.

Khan explained that the all-rounders’ immense experience in playing the format made him the most suitable candidate.

“Management staff plus our Head Coach Johan Botha and Assistant Coach Rayon Griffith, we looked at the players to see who will be the best leader. He has lead Pakistan before and franchises all over the world so he comes with a lot of experience,” Khan said.

The Warriors are yet to win a CPL title, despite reaching the final on three occasions. Over the five years, the franchise has also been led by Ramnaresh Sarwan, Denesh Ramdin and Martin Guptill.

Khan, who has been managing the team since the inception of the league in 2013, contended that to win their first title, the players need to be mentally stronger and reduce on the mistakes in key scenarios.

In previous years, the Warriors would have only had 3-4 home matches atr5 the National Stadium, Providence but for the first time, they will have five, their full allotment.

This comes as a result of no more neutral matches being staged. The Warriors will still have to travel to Florida to play Jamaica Tallawahs who are hosting their home matches at the Central Broward Regional Park in Lauderhill.

The Amazon Warriors players are expected to assemble on August 2 for a one-week camp which runs from August 3-7 ahead of the first match at Providence on August 9 against St Kitts and Nevis Patriots.

Guyana Amazon Warriors squad: Sohail Tanveer, Shoaib Malik (captain),  Chadwick Walton, Cameron Delport, Rayad Emrit, Imran Tahir, Jason Mohammed, Luke Ronchi, Veerasammy Permaul, Roshon Primus, Shimron Hetmyer, Devendra Bishoo, Gajanand Singh, Sherfane Rutherford, Romario Shepherd, Keemo Paul, Saurabh Netravalkar and Akshaya Persaud.