KIERON POLLARD remains captain of Trinbago Knight Riders (TKR) for the tenth edition of the Caribbean Premier League T20 tournament while new addition, West Indies T20 skipper Nicholas Pooran, will serve in other leadership roles within the squad.
Pollard wants Pooran to take a load off captaincy duties after a hectic, series-filled campaign as WI white-ball skipper over the past four months.
Pooran, who played with Guyana Amazon Warriors for the past three years, was one of three regional additions to the TKR line up for the 2022 CPL, alongside Andre Russell (Jamaica Tallawahs) and debutant Shaaron Lewis.
Pooran leads the West Indies team into ICC T20 World Cup qualification in October. Pollard believes his new TKR teammate, in addition to a few other experienced players in the team, must still serve in other critical leadership roles.
“This is the CPL. We have put together a squad where we have a lot of senior players and a lot of leaders within themselves. Pooran is the WI incumbent. He will always have a leadership role in whatever capacity.
“To me, that is not important right now as we go into a CPL. Even for the young man, the last couple months have been tough for the amount of cricket that he has played and he has a lot cricket coming up inclusive of a (T20) World Cup.
“You want him to be mentally and physically fresh so he can lead WI into the World Cup and to greater things. He always has a leadership role, as so, Sunil Narine, Andre Russell, Colin Munro and Ravi Rampaul, so we have a lot of senior guys with a lot of experience,” he said during Tuesday’s virtual pre-tournament media conference.
The TKR captain is looking forward to competing once more, following his recent performance at the Hundred T20 tournament in England. He was happy the TKR team were able to put in some time on the pitch at the inaugural 6ixty T10 competition.
“We’re just looking forward to the tournament. I thought it was a good headstart in terms of the 6ixty; guys getting acclimatised to conditions and stuff like that.
“Normally we’ll have a training camp but we used the 6ixty as practice so the guys could showcase what they have. We’re still missing a couple guys who will join us over the next couple days,” he added.
Pollard confirmed he is injury-free and happy TKR boasts a wealth of Caribbean and international talent.
TKR have won four CPLT20 titles, the last, when Pollard captained them on home soil in 2020. He admitted the team looks good on paper but must live up to the hype on the field, if they are to return the trophy back to the TT franchise.
“I’m well, all good, the injury I had recently is behind me. I feel fresh mentally, emotionally and stress free. We have all our bases covered, in spinning, batting order, power hitters and guys to rotate the strike; a lot of good names on paper in terms of what they have achieved.
“We’re not looking at it as if we’re the strongest team but what we can do as a team, what we can achieve on the field as individuals, inclusive of what the team requires. Hop
