Brathwaite to captain St Kitts and Nevis Patriots

ST. JOHN’S, Antigua and Barbuda: West Indies’ T20I captain Carlos Brathwaite will lead St Kitts and Nevis Patriots in the upcoming Caribbean Premier League (CPL), taking over from Chris Gayle, who will turn out for Jamaica Tallawahs this season.The all-rounder has been part of the franchise for four successive seasons, since the introduction of the team in the CPL, and has been among the side’s leading run-getters since then.He said his focus this year would be to ensure Patriots end up in the top four for the third consecutive year: in 2017, they finished runners-up, losing to Trinbago Knight Riders in the final, and in 2018, the side finished third.“I think we had a good last couple of years where we challenged really well on the field, we went to the final and then we made it to the playoffs as well,” Brathwaite said. “So, this year is about trying to continue that same thought process, that same set of game plan and try to be as attacking as we could potentially be. Obviously, we had Chris [Gayle] and Evin [Lewis] at the top,“Chris is now gone so we need to find a replacement for Chris, probably not in the same style that he would play, but with the results that he would normally bring to the team.” Brathwaite also credited Gayle for his calm presence as captain over the last two seasons.The Patriots squad for this season includes four players from West Indies’ World Cup squad - Brathwaite, opener Evin Lewis, left-arm spinner Fabien Allen and fast bowler Sheldon Cottrell - while the international contingent includes Sri Lanka quick Isuru Udana and Pakistan all-rounder Mohammad Hafeez. Hafeez replaced South Africa’s Rassie van der Dussen, who withdrew from the tournament due to international commitments.

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