Martin Guptill leaves CPL midway, heads back to New Zealand

Veteran New Zealand cricketer Martin Guptill has headed back home midway through the ongoing edition of the Caribbean Premier League (CPL). Guptill was leading the Guyana Amazon Warriors in the competition. Under his leadership, the team had escalated to the fourth spot in the points table and are currently holding the same position as well.

As per the reports in Stuff.co.nz, Martin Guptill had to leave the season midway due to some ‘important family health matter’. The exact reason for his abrupt departure is yet to be ascertained. Guptill will miss the remainder of the tournament. Incidentally, Martin Guptill and his wife, Laura McGoldrick, are expecting their first baby next month. Meanwhile, the management of the GAW expressed their disappointment at losing the services of their captain.

“It’s unfortunate and hugely disappointing to lose Martin at this stage of the tournament but we empathise with his situation and he has our full support as he returns home to his family,” quoted Omar Khan, the Operations Manager of Warriors.

Replacement for Martin Guptill

The team management were quick to rope in a replacement for Guptill. Former New Zealand wicket-keeper batsman, Luke Ronchi, will be joining the squad as the replacement for Guptill. The team manager remarked that the addition of Ronchi to the team will be a big boost for them. He welcomed him to the Guyana roster.

Ronchi retired from international cricket in June this year. He was recently seeing plying his trade for the Leicestershire club in England’s T20 competition. Ronchi aggregated 429 runs in the 15 matches that he played for Leicestershire with 3 fifties at an average of 33 and a healthy strike rate of 180.25.

“We welcome Luke to the Guyana Amazon Warriors family and his wealth of experience and explosive batting in this format will certainly be an asset to our team,” Omar remarked.