CPL 2017 - Tournament preview of all the 6 teams

The Caribbean Premier League (CPL) will commence on August 4 with St Lucia Stars and Trinbago Knight Riders colliding in the season opener at the Darren Sammy National Cricket Stadium in St Lucia. The carnival atmosphere in the Caribbean just adds to the charm of playing in the islands as people just love their cricket in this part of the world.

The draft for the forthcoming season was held in Barbados on March 10. The skipper of the defending champions Jamaica Tallawahs – Chris Gayle will not be seen playing for his home side this year as he was procured by St Kitts and Nevis Patriots. The tournament will be bolstered by a presence of a few exciting young players, who have made a name for themselves in the last one year. The likes of Rashid Khan, Babar Azam and Shadab Khan will play in the high profile league for the first time. It will be a good learning curve for these young players as they will be provided with an opportunity to rub shoulders with some of the greats of the modern era.

A total of 34 games will be played with the finals to be played on September 9. Six teams will participate in the tournament, a norm since the first season was rolled out in 2013. The CPL, these days, is treated as a stepping stone by youngsters in a bid to attract an IPL contract. A few players also stake a claim for a national recall after their careers were stalled midway. Let us have a look at each of the squads one by one:

Jamaica Tallawahs

Jamaica are the defending champions and the only team to have won the title twice as they also won the inaugural season in 2013. Their skipper in all editions – Chris Gayle won’t be around for this year’s edition but the core squad remains the same with top players: Kumar Sangakkara, Lendl Simmons, Imad Wasim and Shakib Al Hasan still in their ranks. The rich vein of form of their overseas recruit Sangakkara will be very handy for the defending champions. He scored heavily in the English County Championship and would like to carry that form into T20 cricket.

The presence of Kesrick Williams and Rovman Powell means that they have decent domestic talent in their squad. The inclusion of former Pakistan fast bowler Mohammad Sami will lift the pace bowling department. Simmons, in all probability, will be appointed the skipper of the side.

Squad: Lendl Simmons, Kumar Sangakkara, Shakib Al Hasan, Imad Wasim, Mohammad Sami, Rovman Powell, Gidron Pope, Kesrick Williams, Garey Mathurin, Jon-Rus Jaggesar, Krishmar Santokie, Janothan Foo, Kennar Lewis, Andre McCarthy, Odean Smith

Guyana Amazon Warriors

Kiwi Martin Guptill and Pakistan sensation Babar Azam are the main overseas batsmen in the side. Both of them will have to take the responsibility of filling up the void left by Chris Lynn, who was their highest run-getter last season. the Australian has ruled himself out of the tournament as he will be undergoing a shoulder surgery shortly. The inclusion of rookie leg-spinner Rashid Khan is great news for the franchise. The Afghanistan national had a great outing in his IPL debut and there is no doubt that he will do well in his CPL debut as well.

Young Jason Mohammed will have to prove his mettle this season. He had a forgettable series against India recently and will be keen to turn things around with the bat for Guyana. The experience of Sohail Tanvir and Veerasammy Permaul will keep the bowling department in good stead.

Squad: Sohail Tanvir, Martin Guptill, Chadwick Walton, Rayad Emrit, Rashid Khan, Jason Mohammed, Steven Taylor, Veerasammy Permaul, Roshon Primus, Gajanand Singh, Assad Fudadin, Keon Joseph, Steven Jacobs, S Katwaroo, Ali Khan, Shimron Hetmyer

Barbados Tridents

A franchise which has no paucity of talent in the batting department, Barbados boasts of top T20 players like Kieron Pollard, Shoaib Malik, Kane Williamson and Dwayne Smith. Pollard has been announced as the captain of the squad. Barbados won the title in 2014 while being the runners up in 2015.

Besides their batting talents, Barbados has a fine bowling unit as well. The likes of Ravi Rampaul, Wayne Parnell, Wahab Riaz and Tino Best certainly give a good reading. Overall, the Pollard-led unit looks the best one on paper but they will have to come together and recognize their best combination going into the tournament.

Squad: Kieron Pollard, Kane Williamson, Shoaib Malik, Dwayne Smith, Nicholas Pooran, Wayne Parnell, Ravi Rampaul, Wahab Riaz, Raymon Reifer, Christopher Barnwell, Imran Khan, Damion Jacobs, Akeal Hosein, Ryan Wiggins, Tino Best

St Lucia Stars

Under the leadership of Darren Sammy, who recently won the PSL for his franchise Peshawar Zalmi besides winning the World T20 twice for the West Indies, St Lucia does not have to look far for inspiration. St Lucia has quality batsmen in Kamran Akmal, who was also a part of the squad which emerged victorious in the PSL; Johnson Charles, Andre Fletcher, and veteran Marlon Samuels. In Jesse Ryder and Shane Watson, St Lucia have two quality all-rounders who are capable of turning it on with both bat and ball.

Jerome Taylor and Mitchell McClenaghan will lead the attack for St Lucia. The spin department has a lot of experience as Eddie Leie and Shane Shillingford has a combined tally of 717 first-class wickets. Both have some international experience as well and will look to work in pairs in the forthcoming season.

Squad: Darren Sammy, Johnson Charles, Andre Fletcher, Eddie Leie, Obed McCoy, Kyle Mayers, Timil Patel, Shane Shillingford, Shane Watson, Sunil Ambris, Rahkeem Cornwall, Kamran Akmal, Keddy Lesporis, Marlon Samuels, Jerome Taylor, Mitchell McClenaghan, Jesse Ryder

Trinbago Knight Riders

If the other teams have talent, the Knight Riders have depth in all departments. Dwayne Bravo will be making a return to top flight cricket after a 7-month layoff due to a hamstring surgery which prompted him to miss the entire length of the IPL. He will have his brother Daren Bravo alongside him besides South African legend Hashim Amla, out-of-favor wicket-keeper batsman Dinesh Ramdin, explosive former Kiwi batsman Brendon McCullum and maverick all-rounder, Kevon Cooper.

Trinbago have all the possible varieties in the spin department as the likes of Brad Hogg, Sunil Narine, and young Shadab Khan are present in the squad. In Colin Munro, Knight Riders have a player who could up the ante in the last overs and could also play a role with the ball with his military medium pace in the middle overs.

Squad: Hashim Amla, Dwayne Bravo, Kevon Cooper, Brad Hogg, Nikita Miller, Sunil Narine, Anderson Phillip, Denesh Ramdin, Shadab Khan, Ronsford Beaton, Darren Bravo, Hamza Tariq, Brendon McCullum, Colin Munro, William Perkins, Khary Pierre, Javon Searles, Mehedi Hasan

St Kitts and Nevis Patriots

The major attraction of this franchise is the presence of Chris Gayle in the ranks. Gayle is a crowd puller irrespective of the franchise he turns up for. Not the same player he used to be once, the Jamaican still has enough to contribute to St Kitts. The squad also boasts of the World Cup hero Carlos Braithwaite, who is the frontrunner to lead the team. Evin Lewis, who recently scored a breathtaking hundred against India last month will be excited to open the innings alongside Chris Gayle. The inclusion of Mohammed Hafeez lends balance to the batting unit as he can be the one who plays the anchor role perfectly.

Hero of the ICC Champions Trophy for Pakistan: Hasan Ali will be keen on learning from this tournament for his further evolvement while Samuel Badree will be a key bowler for St Kitts with the new ball. Chris Morris, Ben Cutting, Tabraiz Shamsi and Mohammad Nabi are four crucial overseas players who could make an impact in the tournament for St Kitts.

Squad: Fabian Allen, Carlos Brathwaite, Jonathan Carter, Hasan Ali, Chris Gayle, Brandon King, Jeremiah Louis, Chris Morris, Tabraiz Shamsi, Samuel Badree, Shamarh Brooks, Sheldon Cottrell, Nikhil Dutta, Alzarri Joseph, Evin Lewis, Mohammad Nabi, Mohammad Hafeez, Devon Thomas