Vinode Mamchan
Published:
http://www.guardian.co.tt/sport/2016-01-22/no-more-red-steel-tt%E2%80%88knight-riders-takes-over-cpl%E2%80%88franchiseFriday, January 22, 2016
Last season’s Caribbean Premier League (CPL) T20 champions T&T Red Steel will be known as the T&T Knight Riders for this year’s edition of the tournament, which bowls off in June.
CPL insiders revealed that the owners of the T&T Red Steel franchise, who also own the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the Indian Premier league (IPL), have requested a name change for the T&T franchise.
Last year, the T&T Red Steel was bought by Red Chillies Entertainment which is owned by Bollywood stars Shah Rukh Khan and Juhi Chawla, as well as Jay Mehta.
The team won the title in front of home supporters at the Queen’s Park Oval, Port-of-Spain, and fans were looking ahead to another successful season for the Red Steel.
The nucleus of the new T&T Knight Riders is expected to remain and Dwayne Bravo will be at the helm. However, the team’s marquee foreign player would be the New Zealand Brendan McCullum, who plays for the KKR in the IPL. McCullum was one of the standout players in last year’s World Cup where he led New Zealand to the final.
The draft for the tournament is scheduled for February 11 at the Hilton Barbados and the six teams will finalise their roster for the tournament. It is understood that some of the Bollywood stars involved in the set-up would be present at the draft.
This CPL will be making significant strides this year, as matches are carded for outside of the Caribbean. There is a block of matches at the end of July which is scheduled to take place at the Broward Regional Park in Fort Lauderdale, which is the only International Cricket Council (ICC) recognised venue in the United States.
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