Ramdin Looks For A Positive Approach

Fri, Jul 11, '14

by MICHELLE MCDONALD

Guyana Amazon Warriors face Antigua Hawksbill in the opening game of the 2014 Limacol Caribbean Premier League T20 (CPLT20) tournament in Grenada on Friday 11th July. This year, Guyana is being captained by Denesh Ramdin who returns to the team for the second staging of the tournament.

In a wide ranging one-on-one interview which included a preview of the match, Ramdin said “for the first game of the tournament, I would like to see the guys come out and be positive.” Some of the players returning with Ramdin are T20 standout spinner Sunil Narine, opening batsman Lendl Simmons, overseas players the Pakistani all-rounder Mohammad Hafeez and batsman Martin Guptil from New Zealand. New faces turning out for Guyana Amazon Warriors are Leon Johnson and Ronsford Beaton, along with Kiwi player James Neesham who was a late replacement for Corey Anderson, also from New Zealand.

Rain in Grenada hampered preparations the day before the opening fixture. Fortunately, there was a training camp in Guyana, but which Ramdin was unavailable for. “I think that the week in Guyana, that I heard of, went quite well. We had a couple practice matches. Martin Guptil, he got some runs on the board which is good for us. He is our top batter - he opens the batting - and we have Lendl Simmons who has been in some good form at the moment, so that augurs well for the team and hopefully tomorrow they can fire for us,” the Captain said.

Ramdin hopes to come out victorious this year, after being beaten finalists in the inaugural tournament which the Jamaica Tallawahs won. He said “hopefully this year we can play that consistent cricket, believe in ourselves and have that togetherness going forward.”

Along with spinner Narine, left arm bowler Krishmar Santokie is expected to provide problems for the opposition. Ramdin spoke about some of the other players.  “Young [Ronsford] Beaton, he is back from injury so hopefully he can come out and fire for us. Mohammad Hafiz is one of our consistent bowlers so there are a few bowlers in there who can cause some threats to the opposition.”

In addition to Martin Guptil, Ramdin will be looking for runs from the rest of the batsmen like Jimmy Neesham, Christopher Barnwell and Navin Stewart. “I try to slot myself in the middle of those guys where I can accumulate runs in the middle and try and have a go at the end, so kind of balance off the team,” he further added.  Fans will get to see more of the wicketkeeper/batsman as he will likely bat at the number 4 position. With his current strike rate of 121.71, this could provide much needed runs for last year’s runners-up.

The Guyana Amazon Warriors Captain feels that there are many benefits of the Limacol CPLT20 tournament including the exposure it gives to regional cricketers who are not well known on the international scene.

He said “I think it is great for West Indies cricket in terms of every year you are finding some young players coming through. This year young Jermaine Blackwood, he represented the West Indies in Test Matches.  You have Sheldon Cotterell breaking through the scene; you had Jason Holder, so hopefully in this year’s tournament you will have 4 or 5 new faces so that the Selectors could have a look at them in the shorter format of the game and going forwards.”

Denesh Ramdin is one of 10 players who turned out for the Guyana Amazon Warriors last year. This year, as Captain, he will want to use that familiarity to his best advantage and provide a winning start for his team.

The Limacol Caribbean Premier League T20 tournament starts with the Opening Ceremony at 12:45 p.m., with match time at 2:00 p.m. The tournament runs from 11th July to 16th August, with an increased 30 matches taking place over 37 days.

Click here for video snippets of Thursday’s official launch.