Know your CPL 2020 team – Guyana Amazon Warriors
One of the Caribbean Premier League’s most reliable teams, Guyana Amazon Warriors has yet to win a title despite having made the playoffs every single season. They have so far reached the finals 5 out of 7 times and finished in the other two seasons in third place.
The Guyana-based team has a promising lineup, as every year, and it will not be surprising if they finally win and lift their maiden title.
Guyana Amazon Warriors had kept a lot of the players and signed Ross Taylor and Kevin Sinclair. They got Afghan seamer Naveen-ul-Haq, under-19 star Ashmead Nedd and all-rounder Jasdeep Singh of the USA in the draft. But with Shoaib Malik and Shadab Khan unavailable for the season, the gap will be sturdy for the Warriors to fill, especially the captain’s shoes.
Squad
Retained: Imran Tahir (Overseas), Chris Green (Overseas), Qais Ahmad (Overseas), Anthony Bramble, Brandon King, Shimron Hetmyer, Keemo Paul, Chanderpaul Hemraj, Romario Shepherd, Sherfane Rutherford, Odean Smith, Nicholas Pooran.
Signed: Ross Taylor (Overseas), Kevin Sinclair.
Drafted: Naveen-ul-Haq (Overseas), Jasdeep Singh (ICC Americas pick), Ashmead Nedd.
Strengths and Weaknesses
Guyana Amazon Warriors boasts a superb batting lineup of many stars from the West Indies including King, Pooran and Hetmyer. All three have so far been impressive in the limited-overs format, King being the top scorer in CPL 2019, Hetmyer known for his big hit, especially against spin and Pooran for his stroke-play. The excellent run of Guyana Amazon Warrior in 2019 was due primarily to the superb form of King and Hemraj at the top, as they both featured in the season’s top 10 run-getters.
Hetmyer may look to improve his performance, but he may be an absolute match-winner on his day given his potential. Pooran is now a hot property across the globe in T20 cricket, and its form will be crucial to the chances this season for Guyana Amazon Warrior.
Ross Taylor, an accomplished fighter, will play a part in Shoaib Malik’s batting lineup last season. Followed by Chris Green, Sherfane Rutherford and Keemo Paul form an excellent enough lower middle-order. Rutherford in particular, along with Taylor and Pooran, will hold the key to finishing games.
The spin department took a hit in the absence of Malik and Shadab, but Tahir and Green are good enough spinners on whom the team can rely. At some point in the tournament, they could also use Qais Ahmed, who was very impressive in BBL, as a surprise feature. Nedd, who shone at the U-19 World Cup is an exciting prospect but lacks experience at this point, and so is Kevin Sinclair, the off-break bowler.
Pace bowling is something which seriously lacks quality for Guyana Amazon Warriors. Aside from the bowlers of first preference in Paul, Shepherd and Naveen, there are no qualitative choices to look forward to. Laughlin, particularly with the experience he had, will be a huge miss from last season.
