West Indies white-ball captain Kieron Pollard will continue to lead Trinbago Knight Riders for the upcoming CPL season.
Pollard had been named Knight Riders’ replacement captain after regular captain Dwayne Bravo was sidelined from the entire CPL 2019 with an injury. After captaining Knight Riders to the playoffs – they were beaten by eventual champions Barbados Tridents in the second qualifier – Pollard took over as the captain of West Indies’ ODI and T20I sides.
It was Bravo who had led Knight Riders to back-to-back title victories in 2017 and 2018, but, according to Venky Mysore, the CEO of the team as well as Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL, Bravo wasn’t keen to lead the side earlier too, and instead wanted to focus on his career as a player.
“We are happy that Kieron who is the West Indies captain is our leader at TKR,” Mysore was quoted as saying by Trinidad & Tobago Guardian. “The champion DJ Bravo has been coming to me year after year and asking me to give someone else the captaincy because he wants to just concentrate on playing and enjoying the game. I always told him not until I am ready and that time has come and he is very happy to play under Pollard.”
Pollard and Bravo also share a great relationship and when Bravo announced his decision to come out T20I retirement last December, he talked up Pollard’s captaincy.
“They are great friends and they will both come together to give us the best chance at the CPL this year,” Mysore said. “Bravo said he has played under Pollard before and this will be the best thing at this time for all parties. Pollard was kind enough to accept the position to lead the team at the tournament. He said if we wanted him to do it he will and we said that we will be delighted to have him as captain again.”
During the draft that was held virtually on June 24, Knight Riders snapped up 48-year old Indian leg-spinner Pravin Tambe, Zimbabwe all-rounder Sikandar Raza and local quick Anderson Phillip.
Earlier, Knight Riders retained their core from last season and signed New Zealand wicketkeeper-batsman Tim Seifert, Australian leg-spinner Fawad Ahmed and fast bowler Jayden Seales, who had represented West Indies in the Under-19 World Cup earlier this year.
Knight Riders will play five-time finalists Guyana Amazon Warriors in the CPL 2020 opener on August 18. Due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the entire tournament will be held in Trinidad and Tobago this year, with the final scheduled for the Brian Lara Stadium in September. (ESPNCricinfo)
