Photo Credit: Cricket West Indies
The best players in the Republic Bank Caribbean Premier League (CPL) have earned spots in the Team of the Tournament. Following the conclusion of the event on Sunday night, the “best XI” was announced by the organisers.
Home team Guyana Amazon Warriors beat Trinbago Knight Riders in the grand final at the Guyana National Stadium much to the delight of their fan base who celebrated their first title.
The West Indies players in the squad are: opener Brandon King of Jamaica Tallawahs, Shai Hope and Romario Shepherd of Guyana Amazon Warriors, Nicholas Pooran and Kieron Pollard of Trinbago Knight Riders, Jason Holder of Barbados Royals and Alzarri Joseph of Saint Lucia Kings.
The other members of the team are overseas players: Saim Ayub, Dwaine Petorius and Imran Tahir of Guyana Amazon Warriors as well as Imad Wasim of Jamaica Tallawahs.
Fast bowler Joseph said he was quite pleased to secure a spot in the Team of the Tournament, which was selected by the television commentary panel; Ian Bishop, Daren Ganga, Samuel Badree, Carlos Brathwaite, Danny Morrison and Nikhil Uttamchandani.
Joseph took 12 wickets in 10 matches for the Kings. He was the fastest bowler in the tournament and topped 150+kph on a few deliveries. The leading batsman was Hope who scored 481 runs in 12 innings with a top score of 106. He was named the Player of the Tournament. Pretorius was the leading wicket-taker with 20 scalps in 13 matches. His best figures were 4-26 in the final when he won the Player of the Match award.
Joseph said:
It’s a good feeling to be part of that team for the second year in a row it means that I am doing something right consistently in this tournament. I think it’s just down to the fact that I’ve been playing so much so I’m in good rhythm and credit must go to our analyst Avenesh Seetaram as he always has the information ready for us and basically does half of the work for us.
I guess it speaks to my fitness in some sense but like I said earlier I’ve been paying for some time so I am I’m good rhythm so I would say the speeds are down to the good rhythm I’m in. I think my development has been going well so far and I got a bit more experience in different scenarios to take with me into the future.
FULL TEAM
Saim Ayub (Guyana Amazon Warriors)
Brandon King (Jamaica Tallawahs)
Shai Hope (Guyana Amazon Warriors)
Nicholas Pooran (Trinbago Knight Riders)
Kieron Pollard (Trinbago Knight Riders)
Imad Wasim (Jamaica Tallawahs)
Romario Shepherd (Guyana Amazon Warriors)
Jason Holder (Barbados Royals)
Alzarri Joseph (Saint Lucia Kings)
Dwaine Pretorius (Guyana Amazon Warriors)
Imran Tahir (Guyana Amazon Warriors)
