Why is the whole CPL 2021 being held at Warner Park?

Due to the ongoing pandemic, the West Indies Cricket Board and organisers of the CPL decided that it made sense to hold the whole tournament at just the one venue.

In this case, Warner Park in St Kitts and Nevis.

That’s in order to make it easier to have a secured bio-bubble and to limit the possibility of outbreaks of Covid-19 that could disrupt the tournament.

Which is precisely what happened at both the PSL and Indian Premier League earlier this year.

It will also make things far easier for players, management, fans, broadcasters, journalists and everyone else that there’s no travel involved.

Last year for the same reason (Covid-19) the CPL took the decision to host the majority of matches at the Brian Lara Academy in Tarouba, Trinidad.

The other matches were played at the Queen’s Oval in Port of Spain, also Trinidad.

So there’s a precedent for holding the whole of the CPL on the same island, although in this case it will only be at one venue, rather than two.

History, capacity and facilities

Named after the English 17th century explorer Sir Thomas Warner, it was the first of the new Caribbean stadiums to be opened ahead of the 2006 (ODI) World Cup, which Australia won.

Unlike most of the other venues, it was mostly funded with money from Taiwan, rather than China.

The complex is mostly divided into a football stadium and a cricket stadium, though it also includes tennis courts, netball and volleyball courts.

The football stadium holds 3,500 spectators and the cricket one 8,000.

Doesn’t sound like much compared to say the MCG in Melbourne, which once had 100,000 fans in it?

Maybe not, but it’s worth pointing out that the whole island of St Kitts has a population of just 35,000 so you could put just under a quarter of the whole island in the stadium and it would be full!

For the 2021 edition of the CPL, the ground will operate at half capacity, meaning up to 4,000 fans will be allowed to enter he ground for each match.

And that’s as long as they can prove they’ve been vaccinated.

Raheem Cornwall (St Lucia Kings)

If you’ve never seen Cornwall play before, you’d be forgiven for thinking that he was plucked from the crowd when a player fell ill just before the game was about to start.

After all, he’s the heaviest player to ever play international cricket.

But don’t judge a book by its cover. He’s not going to run many quick twos nor is he going to cut off many balls on the boundary with some fast running and an athletic slide.

However, he’s a surprisingly agile slip fielder, helped by the fact his hands are more the size of buckets than regular hands.

With the bat, he’s best used as an opener who can clear the field in the Powerplay overs by hitting over the top.

Four fifties in 56 T20 matches suggest he doesn’t often kick on that much. But look at that carrer strike rate: 149. It means he gets on with it and plays without any care because he knows his job is to hit early boundaries rather than accumulate runs.

And of course, let’s not forget he’s a fine off spin bowler; that’s primarily the reason he was called up to the Test squad.

It’s real money odds of 11.0 with Betway that he’s the CPL’s top batsman this season. His record suggests he’s more inclined to hit quick 30s than get to 50 or 60, but you never know.

Mohammad Hafeez (Guyana Amazon Warriors)

The second Pakistani to make the list.

Experience is an often overused word in cricket but it’s not overused when it comes to this guy.

Now 40, he’s represented Pakistan close to 400 times across all three formats and played 331 matches at domestic T20 level.

He’s scored 64 international fifties across the three formats and has over 250 international wickets to go with 160 international catches. You get the picture.

A man who has represented 40 different teams in total throughout his career, he’s a proper all-rounder who bats in the middle-order and can bowl at any time in the innings, including being one of the few spinners who’s happy to open the bowling.

He has a great cricketing brain, which is why they call him The Professor.

Crucially, he’s played plenty of CPL cricket as well, having played for St Kitts and more recently, Guyana, his current team.

If the Amazon Warriors are to win it at 5.0, you’d think he’ll play a big part.

Kieron Pollard (Trinbago Knight Riders)

An obvious pick, but so what?

If Cornwall and Hafeez are three-dimensional players, then Pollard is four, because he’s also the skipper of the Knight Riders.

Not only did he lead the side to an unbeaten campaign in 2021 in his first season as captain but he also took four wickets in the final, despite being an occasional bowler rather than a specialist one.

His medium to slow bowling is very underrated because let’s not forget he’s closing in on 300 T20 wickets to go with another 38 at international level.

As a fielder, he likes to be on the boundary for those rope-hugging catches but he can field anywhere.

But of course it’s his death overs batting as a finisher that really sets him apart. A career strike rate of 152 is brutal and includes 52 fifties and a century in T20s.

Did we mention he was last year’s Player of the Tournament in the CPL? We have now.

He’s a big reason behind why Trinbago are favourites at 3.25.

Fabien Allen (St Kitts and Nevis Patriots)

The fourth all-rounder to make our list but they’re so valuable that that’s why I picked them.

Allen could easily win an award for most improved West Indies player of the last two years because his rise has been rapid.

He’s primarily a left arm orthodox spin bowler who goes at 7.67 an over in domestic T20 cricket and interestingly, just 7.21 in T20Is.

He’s played 28 of those as a regular fixture in the Windies’ side over the past three years as they’ve realised what else he brings to the table.

That includes being one of the best fielders in a side already packed with excellent fielders and he was particularly hot in the field in the recent 4-1 T20 series win over Australia.

As a batsman he won’t score many fifties because he bats at 7 or 8 but his strike rate of 155.61 is even better than Pollard, which tells its own story.

St Kitts are a 6.0 shot and Allen will have to be at his best if they’re to make the final, or better.

Best T20 side they’ve ever had?

Quite possibly. The usual story with New Zealand is they have eight or nine top class players and one or two making up the numbers. Not this time.

If anything, this time they have tough choices to make, always a good sign that you’ve got a squad full of players with real quality where you have a problem not knowing who to leave out.

They have a highly experienced trio of top order batsmen in Kane Williamson, Martin Guptill and Ross Taylor, while wicket-keeper batsman Devon Conway and Finn Allen are both exciting prospects.

They have to decide on who to go with from Dayl Mitchell, Mark Chapman and Glenn Philllipps for those middle-order spots and whether they need to keep going with big-hitting all-rounder Colin de Grandhommne or if they feel youngster Kyle Jamieson is enough as a genuine all-rounder.

Or they could field Jamieson alongside the consistent James Neesham.

They then have three good spinners to pick from in Todd Astle, Ish Sodhi and Mitchell Santner and then it’s their choice from among the pacemen: Tim Southee, Trent Boult, Matt Henry, Adam Milne and Lockie Ferguson.

It means they can keep the same eight or nine players and then pick the other three based on the conditions on the day. Whoever they pick is going to make up a really strong side. If it were up to us, this is how they’d line up in that first game.

Bet India suggested XI: Conway, Guptill, Williamson, Taylor, Phillips, Neesham, Jamieson, Santner, Southee, Boult, Sodhi.

Williamson is the real deal

Take a look at the men who are going to captain their sides at the upcoming World Cup. Who stands out as a natural leader of men, a tactically astute skipper, a man with fresh ideas who can keep his cool under pressure and win a game with a masterstroke of a fielding or bowling change?

England’s Eoin Morgan qualifies and so does the West Indies’ Kieron Pollard…just about. Just about because he’s still relatively inexperienced as an international captain.

Virat Kohli? No thanks. He’s already had enough opportunities both with RCB in the IPL and India in T20 World Cups (not to mention ODI World Cups) to lead his team to glory and he’s failed every time.

He’s too intense, rarely comes up with unorthodox tactics that can make a difference and doesn’t always create the best atmosphere and energy on the field.

Williamson is a very different beast. His players love him and love playing for him. He’s the calmest man on the field on any field. He has a good instinct for when to stick or twist in terms of taking risks. He often knows which bowling changes to make that can get a wicket or keep the runs down depending on the batsmen at the crease.

For good measure, he’s a world-class T20 batsman with 13 T20I fifties from 67 games and a very decent average of 31.66 at international level. Even his strike rate, often the subject of criticism, isn’t bad at all at 125.

The world’s best fielder?

A few years ago someone who knew him said Jadeja was primarily a fielder, then a bowler and then a batter. It’s a somewhat debatable claim but what it does emphasise is just what a fielder he is.

Jadeja once explained that as a kid he went to a cricket school of hard knocks. The school wasn’t there for kids to have fun playing cricket; it was there to turn youngsters into future pro cricketers (if internationals, even better) at any cost.

Jadeja spoke candidly about how missing the stumps from a close distance or not releasing the ball when off-balance could result in severe beatings from coaches. That was just part of the education.

A couple of decades later Jadeja generally hits the stumps from anywhere and always releases the ball quickly, whether off balance or not. He stops plenty of runs and almost never drops a catch.

He is arguably the world’s best fielder. Saffers Tenda Bavuma and Faf du Plessis are also brilliant, as is Stokes and the likes of Glenn Maxwell.  But he may just be the best of the lot and that can make a huge difference in a T20 game, particularly a tight one. Especially because India aren’t blessed with too many other great fielders.

Nagging accuracy with the ball

Let’s get one thing straight. Jadeja doesn’t rip and turn the ball like Rashid Khan. He doesn’t have endless variations of deliveries like Imran Tahir or Sunil Narine. He doesn’t make up his own deliveries like Ravi Ashwin or Shane Warne.

But hand Jadeja the ball and he’ll do a job for you. He keeps it simple, focusing on accuracy and subtle changes of pace and angle. It’s not rocket science but it’s not easy to get away.

An economy rate of 7.62 in T20s is ok but it’s even better at an international level, where it’s down to 7.1, very good indeed.

There are two more benefits to him bowling for India.

His orthodox style dovetails nicely with the more aggressive Yuzvendra Chahal and he gets through his overs very quickly.

That means India aren’t in danger of being behind the clock, while his speed in bowling the next delivery doesn’t give the batsmen time to think.

Much-improved batsman

It hasn’t always been so rosy for Jadeja. There were times when he was out of the India side in all formats.

Never was his fielding questioned but his bowling was deemed a bit too unadventurous and predictable, while he just wasn’t getting enough runs with the bat.

Then the unthinkable happened. By December 2012 he’d hit three triple-centuries in First Class cricket, the first and only Indian player to ever manage the feat.

It’s not like he then became a world-class top order batter all of a sudden but his batting really has improved.

Just last year he played one or two wonderful knocks for CSK in the IPL, while he also had some cameos with the bat in the T20 series against Australia and England either side of Christmas.

The role of the finisher for India is meant to be for Pant or Hardik Pandya. But it may just be Jadeja having to win India a game from nowhere with the bat with his big sixes, shots played into unusual areas and lightning-quick running.

The X-Factor man

Sometimes a cricketer comes about who has an aura, confidence and almost magical touch about him.

Ian Botham was certainly like that and so was Shane Warne. Games looked dead and buried before they got involved and an hour later, they’d turned the match on its head.

Jadeja is certainly like that and it’s not just about the skills he has in his locker.

It’s more a question of mentality and attitude. This is a man who celebrates fifties by shaking his bat around like it was a sword and a guy who rides (practically) wild horses on his farm for relaxation. Let’s just say he’s cut from a different cloth to Ajinkya Rahane or Ravi Ashwin.

And it’s exactly that sort of positive energy and endless self-belief that could be so infectious and spread to his team-mates.

If India, 3.25 favourites with Betway, are to win this…you’d think that Jadeja will be playing a huge role in proceedings.

Priceless experience

He’s 38 years old, he’s played over 600 matches of professional cricket and in T20 alone, he’s played 350 matches at domestic level and 16 for Australia.

You’ll struggle to find many players in the world with that level of experience, even if his 35 appearances for Australia in total aren’t that many.

And it’s not just playing the games. Christian’s T20 career has taken him to Australia, England, the Caribbean, India and Pakistan. He’s represented 20 different teams including his country and has played against everyone, everywhere.

You just can’t put a price on that level of experience and it will be invaluable to the team.

Born winner

When Christian signed for the Sydney Sixers at the start of the 2020-21 BBL season, the joke doing the rounds was that the Sixers were nailed-on winners simply because they had…Christian.

The significance wasn’t lost on us here at Bet India. This is why (in addition to plenty of other factors, of course) we tipped the Sixers at 6.5 before the tournament started.

Two months later and Christian and the Sixers were crowned champions.

Incredibly, it was Christian’s 11th T20 title at the domestic level. Among his other titles were wins in the BBL with the Brisbane Heat and Melbourne Renegades, two English titles with Notts and yet another English title at Hampshire, that one just over 10 years ago.

A winning mentality can be contagious and it’s exactly what this Australian side, poor in T20 World Cups over the years, are crying out for.

The all-rounder

Australia have produced some cracking white ball all-rounders over the years with Michael Bevan, Andrew Symonds and Shane Watson three of the better ones.

But they’ve struggled in this regard recently. Mitch Marsh keeps getting injured, Glenn Maxwell and Marcus Stoinis only bowl in certain conditions and others like Daniel Sams aren’t experienced at international level.

It opens the door for Christian to come in as a sixth bowler and bat at six or seven.

In the words of Greg Shipperd, his coach at the Sixers:

“It’s a unique format of the game and he’s got a unique skillset as a strong finisher through the middle and at the back-end with the bat, he’s got the capability to bowl a couple of intelligent, player-specific overs right across the three phases with the ball,”

This is a man who has 270 T20 wickets to his name, taking a wicket every 20 balls on average. Yeah, an economy rate of 8.44 is a bit high but still acceptable for a batting all-rounder.

And that’s without even mentioning his role as a finisher.

The finisher

All roles are important in cricket but just about every successful side has one thing in common: they have a world-class finisher.

That’s a middle-order batsman who knows how to master the last few overs of the innings, particularly when chasing stiff totals in matches that fluctuate one way and another.

Look at the sort of impact that players like Kieron Pollard for the West Indies and Mumbai, Andre Russell for the Windies and KKR, or Ravi Jadeja for India and CSK have on games.

The ‘finisher’ is  a very specialised role, especially when chasing. He needs to be able to rotate the strike well, run twos when on offer, hit regular boundaries to stay in the game, smash sixes when the situation gets desperate and also coach the batsman at the other end, who tends to be a bowler or another all-rounder.

And all the while the finisher has to work out what they need, keep an eye on the required run rate and know which bowlers to target.

They play a hell of a lot of T20 cricket

Here are the three players in the world with the most T20 matches played over the course of their careers: Kieron Pollard (541 matches), Dwayne Bravo (478) and Chris Gayle (424).

Notice anything in common? They are of course not just all West Indies players but all World Cup winners, as well. Also in the Top 10 are Sunil Narine (355) and Andre Russell (355) meaning that 5 of the Top 10 are West Indies players.

The reason for this is that many Windies players very early on chose T20 cricket over international cricket. Players like Gayle pretty much quit their Test careers while others like Pollard never played it at all.

It’s not good for the Windies’ other formats but it does mean that in T20s, they have the most experienced players around. And that can only be a good thing.

IPL experience invaluable

The games the likes of Bravo and Gayle have played have been in anything from the CPL to PSL to the T20 Blast in England.

But crucially, their main stars have played lots and lots of IPL cricket. Of the eleven players who featured in the 2016 final against England, seven had played in the IPL at some stage.

The IPL, as we know, is the richest and most competitive T20 tournament in the world and season after season of playing in high-pressure matches in packed stadiums where every ball counts can only improve the players’ skills and temperaments.

It’s also true that you learn a lot from playing alongside the world’s best, like Kagiso Rabada, Virat Kohli or AB de Villiers.

Six Appeal

Whereas most other international teams preferred a slightly more cautious approach of accumulating runs, scoring a few boundaries along the way and then going hell-for-leather in the last few overs, the Windies saw things differently.

They worked out early on that a batsman getting 20 runs off 10 balls trumps one who gets 40 off 30. And the best way to score your runs very quickly is to…hit sixes.

So the likes of Gayle, Pollard and Andre Russell decided that trying to hit lots of sixes is a good example of the reward justifying the risk. It won’t always come off but the thinking is very much right.

The Windball factor

Windball is an 8-over-a-side form of cricket played in the West Indies and in particular in Trinidad, where Bravo, Pollard, Denesh Ramdin, Kyle Hope and Nicholas Pooran all come from.

It’s played on a concrete surface with a plastic ball and the key to the game is to hit boundaries, with it being easier to do so when hitting straight.

The key here being: hitting straight. All the players mentioned above (and a few more) grew up playing windball and they didn’t stop playing it just because they became millionaires who won everything the game had to offer. When back home, they regularly show up for midweek games in front of a few hundred people like they were regular local cricketers.

The ball may be different but all those years of hitting straight in windball have paid dividends.

World-class all-rounders

You’re lucky if you have one world-class all-rounder in your side to add that all-important balance. So England have Ben Stokes, New Zealand have Kyle Jamieson and (when fit to bowl) India have Hardik Pandya.

So consider how lucky the Windies have been to be able to count on the following top-class all-rounders over the years: Pollard, Bravo, Narine, Daren Sammy and Andre Russell. Russell, by the way, is arguably the best T20 all-rounder ever.

Very often they’ve played at least three of those in the same side. What that means is that the captain almost always has at least seven bowling options in total and that the team bats down to at least number nine.

So plenty of choice when it comes to bowlers and then there batsmen down the order who can add some quick runs batting first or get over the line in a chase. A real recipe for success.

Sammy and Samuels

There were two common factors in the West Indies’ two World Cup wins.

The first was that they were captained by Daren Sammy on both occasions, the second that Marlon Samuels was man-of-the-match in the final on both occasions.

Sammy was a curious case. He went from being a really good all-rounder who could hit sixes at will, to playing mostly just as a batsman, to playing almost solely as a captain. After all, towards the end of his international career he generally batted at eight and hardly ever bowled.

But don’t dismiss his importance as captain. He was good from a tactical point of view but he was an even better man manager and motivator.

The Windies are a hard team to lead with some difficult personalities. But he had them all pulling in the same direction.

Speaking of difficult characters in cricket, look no further than Samuels. But the Jamaican scored 78 off 56 in the 2012 final against Sri Lanka and then 85 off 66 in the 2016 final against England. As we said already, he was man-of-the-match in both games.

This time round, they’ll have to do it without both of them as they’ve since retired.