CPL 2021 | Team Preview: Can Dwayne Bravo and Chris Gayle combine to win the elusive trophy for Patriots?

St. Kitts and Nevis Patriots will be playing on their home ground throughout the season during the Caribbean Premier League 2021, which would be the ninth edition of the league. They have got this chance of playing all home games because the CPL Governing Council and West Indies Cricket Board decided to host all 33 games of the season at Warner Park in St. Kitts and Nevis. 

Apart from the home ground advantage, the Patriots would have in the ranks two of the most celebrated and fiercest T20 competitors in the world, Chris Gayle and Dwayne Bravo. While Gayle has played for the Patriots for two seasons and has led them to a Final as well where they eventually lost to incidentally, Bravo’s Trinabago Knight Riders. 

Now that both Gayle and Bravo are on the same side, the two wouldn’t be captaining as the side will be captained by Rayad Emrit. Along with the top two cricketers in Gayle and Bravo, Emrit and Ravi Bopara are the other two cricketers who too are above 35 in the team, in fact, Emrit is 40 years old. So it’s an ageing XI no doubt, but all that would matter is 40 overs on that particular day and players in the Patriots are capable of ruling the game at this age as well.

St. Kitts and Nevis Patriots Squad

Rayad Emrit (c), Dwayne Bravo, Sheldon Cottrell, Evin Lewis, Fabian Allen, Sherfane Rutherford, Jon-Russ Jaggesar, Dominic Drakes, Joshua Da Silva, Chris Gayle, Devon Thomas, Colin Archibald, Mikyle Louis

Overseas Asif Ali, Ravi Bopara, Fawad Ahmed, Paul van Meekeren

Head Coach Simon Helmot

Assistant Coaches Malolan Rangarajan, Donavan Miller

Gayle, Lewis and Rutherford: The deadly southpaw trio

There is no doubt that batting would be the favoured department of the team from St. Kitts and Nevis. In batting too, they would like to bank on their left-hand trio of Gaye, Evin Lewis and Sherfane Rutherford. All of them have been in good form coming into the competition especially Lewis and Gayle are coming in the back of a lot of international cricket, while Rutherford too had been brilliant in the Pakistan Super League. 

While gayle has to his credit almost 450 matches and might become the first person to score 15,000 T20 runs in some time, but the others are equally dominant at their peak, especially Lewis at the top of the order. For the Patriots to surge ahead in the league a good start from Lewis is necessary. 

Along with the trio, the Patriots have in store the likes of experienced Ravi Bopara who has travelled across the globe playing this game and PSL superstar Asif Ali who can hit the ball as hard and as long as anybody else on the park.  

After the pure batters would come all-rounders like Fabian Allen and Dwayne Bravo and in the recent international series against South Africa and Australia, they have shown how brilliant they could turn out to be with the bat given a chance. Thus batting seems to be no big issue with the Patriots. 

Experienced but not world-class bowling attack

The bowling attack apart from Bravo looks relatively less known compared to other teams. Emrit with his experience of playing all the eight seasons of the CPL and Fawad Ahmed with his wily leg-spin. Sure, Sheldon Cottrell, Allen and Bopara can chip in with their overs and not only chip in, but pick wickets as well, but in terms of depth, considering that someone gets injured, it would really hard to find replacements. 

The team signed Pakistani speedster, Naseem Shah, on August 25 and he could be a handful if he gets a chance to make it to the XI. Apart from Naseem, Paul van Meekeren, the dutch player who applies his trade in English domestic cricket looks like the only known and good enough replacement option for a fast bowler. Rest Jon-Russ Jaggesar, Dominic Drakes, Colin Archibald and Mikyle Louis are players that haven’t really been tested at such a big stage, so what they might hold is something that can’t be predicted. 

Can they finally win it?

Now the big question is can they finally end their wait and can they be that new team to win the league for the first time? If things go as planned and both Bravo and Gayle fire and so does the rest of the players like Allen, Bopara, Cottrell and Asif Ali there is no doubt that the Patriots could go all the way. It’s all about clicking as a team because as far as pedigree and big match experience is concerned they have got players who have done it in the past. 

Probable Playing XI

Evin Lewis, Chris Gayle, Asif Ali, Ravi Bopara, Sherfane Rutherford, Fabian Allen, Dwayne Bravo, Joshua Da Silva (wk), Rayad Emrit (c), Fawad Ahmed, Sheldon Cottrell