Knight Riders retain core of past team

Captain Dwayne Bravo, his brother Darren, wicketkeeper Denesh Ramdin and Sunil Narine - all Trinidadians with West Indies experience, have been retained by the Knight Riders.

Other players who were retained were the overseas quartet of former New Zealand skipper Brendon McCullum is the marquee player in the 2017 line-up, veteran South Africa batsman Hashim Amla, New Zealand strokemaker Colin Munro and Canada wicketkeeper Hamza Tariq. Batsman William Perkins, fast bowler Ronsford Beaton, and the all-round pair of Kevon Cooper and Javon Searles are back again. Surprisingly, left-arm Jamaican spinner Nikita Miller, who failed to make an impact last year, was picked again.

Two more left-arm spinners were included in the 2017 bunch - the orthodox Khary Pierre, who had an impressive debut with the Red Force at the Regional Super50 last month, and 46-yearold left-arm chinaman bowler Brad Hogg of Australia.

However, the biggest surprise was the selection of 18-year-old Pakistan leg-spinner Shadab Khan, who is yet to feature at the international level but performed creditably for Islamabad United in the recently-concluded Pakistan Super League.

Knight Riders co-owner Shah Rukh Khan, the famed Indian actor, said on Twitter, “All the best boys for a happy season. Welcome aboard.” Trinidadian opening batsman Lendl Simmons was a big winner in the Draft, snapped up as a franchise player for US$160,000 by the Jamaica Tallawahs who will be playing for the first time without Chris Gayle who shifted to St Kitts and Nevis Patriots.

Trinbago Knight Riders 2017 team: (base value in brackets) - Dwayne Bravo (US$160,000); Brendon McCullum (US$130,000); Sunil Narine (US$110,000); Hashim Amla (US$90,000); Darren Bravo (US$70,000); Denesh Ramdin (US$60,000); Colin Munro (US$40,000); Shadab Khan (US$30,000); Khary Pierre (US$15,000); Ronsford Beaton (US$10,000); Javon Searles (US$7,500); Nikita Miller (US$7,500); William Perkins (US$5,000); Kevon Cooper (US$5,000); Brad Hogg (US$4,000).

BARBADOS TRIDENTS: Kieron Pollard, Kane Williamson, Shoaib Malik, Dwayne Smith, Nicholas Pooran, Wayne Parnell, Ravi Rampaul, Wahab Riaz, Raymond Reifer, Christopher Barnwell, Imran Khan, Damion Jacobs, Akeal Hosein, Ryan Wiggins, Tino Best, Shamar Springer, Akeem Dobson

GUYANA AMAZON WARRIORS: Sohail Tanvir, Martin Guptill, Chadwick Walton, Chris Lynn, Rayad Emrit, Rashid Khan, Jason Mohammed, Steven Taylor, Veerasammy Permaul, Roshon Primus, Gajanand Singh, Assad Fudadin, Keon Joseph, Steven Jacobs, Steven Katwaroo, Shimron Hetmyer, Muhammad Ali Khan.

JAMAICA TALLAWAHS: Lendl Simmons, Kumar Sangakkara, Shakib Al Hasan, Imad Wasim, Muhammad Sami, Rovman Powell, Gidron Pope, Kesrick Williams, Garey Mathurin, Jon-Russ Jaggesar, Krishmar Santokie, Jonathan Foo, Kennar Lewis, Andre McCarthy, Odean Smith, O’Shane Thomas, Timroy Allen.

ST KITTS & NEVIS PATRIOTS: Chris Gayle, Chris Morris, Ben Cutting, Mohammad Nabi, Evin Lewis, Samuel Badree, Jonathan Carter, Tabraiz Shamsi, Brandon King, Devon Thomas, Sheldon Cotterell, Kieran Powell, Fabian Allen, Shamarh Brooks, Jeremiah Louis, Alzarri Joseph, Nikhil Dutta, Carlos Brathwaite.

ST LUCIA STARS: David Miller, Lasith Malinga, Shane Watson, Daren Sammy, Johnson Charles, Andre Fletcher, Jerome Taylor, Marlon Samuels, Kamran Akmal, Rakheem Cornwall, Kyle Mayers, Shane Shillingford, Eddie Leie, Keddy Lesporis, Sunil Ambris, Obed McCoy, Timil Patel.