PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC – Trinidad and Tobago’s selectors have named a strong 15-man squad including nine players with West Indies experience for the Champions League in India next month.The squad will be led by Daren Ganga and West Indies all-rounder Dwayne Bravo is his deputy in the squad that is missing all-rounders Richard Kelly and Imran Khan as well as West Indies off-spinner Amit Jaggernauth.
Khan, has been surprisingly left out after a number of sterling performances during the 2009 regional cricket series.
He was also one of the five cricketers of the year at the recent Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board of Control (TTCBC) awards function.
T&T, the regional Twenty20 kings, will play in Group A alongside IPL champions Deccan Chargers and English title holders Somerset, who they open against on October 12.
The selectors had initially picked 20 players for training and subsequently cut five from that list.
In addition to Khan, Kelly and Jaggernauth, hard hitting batsmen Daron Cruickshank and Kevon Cooper also miss out. Apart from Ganga and Dwayne Bravo, the batting is in the capable hands of West Indies players Lendl Simmons, Kieron Pollard and Darren Bravo, as well as the swashbuckling William Perkins and Adrian Barath.
West Indies wicketkeeper Denesh Ramdin will do duties behind the stumps.
Leading the group of all-rounders will be Ravi Rampaul, Samuel Badree, Sherwin Ganga, Rayad Emrit and Dave Mohammed.
Joining Rampaul and Emrit in the fast bowling attack will be Tobago-born pacer Navin Stewart.
Queen’s Park CC spinner Sunil Narine also wins a call up after his excellent performances in the WIPA Twenty20 series.
T&T SQUAD – Daren Ganga (captain), Dwayne Bravo (vice-captain), Lendl Simmons, William Perkins, Kieron Pollard, Sherwin Ganga, Navin Stewart, Samuel Badree, Darren Bravo, Ravi Rampaul, Denesh Ramdin, Sunil Narine, Adrian Barath, Rayad Emrit, Dave Mohammed.