This year could be the last time any Caribbean regional side play in the CLT20
Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Association president Azim Bassarath has called on the government to ensure that their star players represent Trinidad and Tobago instead of their respective Indian Premier League (IPL) teams during the 2013 Champions League Twenty20 (CLT20).
Trinidad and Tobago qualified for this year’s edition of the CLT20 after beating Guyana in the Caribbean Twenty20.
Since the inaugural edition of the CLT20 in 2009, Trinidad and Tobago have been a part of every single tournament, except in 2010 when they failed to qualify.
During the inaugural edition of the tournament, several of Trinidad and Tobago’s players caught the eye of the national selectors and they ended up finishing as runners-up behind New South Wales.
Players like Kieron Pollard, Sunil Narine and Kevon Cooper all received their IPL contracts after their outstanding performances in the CLT20.
“For the past two years that we went to the Champions League, T&T didn’t have their best players available. This year, I want to ask for the assistance of the government,” Bassarath was quoted as saying in the Trinidad Express. “What I think we should do is that, as early as possible, put something in place where we can negotiate with the personnel of the Indian Premier League, asking and begging and requesting that we have available to us all our international stars.”
Bassarath added that this year could be the last time any of the West Indian regional sides play in the CLT20 since from next year on, the Caribbean Premier League will replace the region-based Caribbean Twenty20.
“We should leave no stone unturned to make sure that we have our best team available for the 2013 Champions League,” Bassarath said. “If we [the officials] have to travel [to India] before the tournament, as I said before, we should travel and we will be begging the Government in that regard.”
Just last year, there was a lot of uncertainty over whether players like Pollard, Narine and Cooper would represent Trinidad and Tobago, but Trinidad and Tobago sports minister Anil Roberts confirmed that the trio, along with Dwayne Bravo had agreed to do so.
But, during last year’s tournament, every single one of the West Indian players with an IPL contract chose to represent their respective IPL franchises instead of their regional sides.