The national selection panel headed by Dudnath Ramkessoon is hoping that Trinidad & Tobago captain Daren Ganga shows the form of old and get T&T the T20 cricket title later this month with both runs and leadership.
Ganga has been installed as captain of the team but there have been calls from some quarters for a new leader. The Barrackpore-born player has been at the helm of the national team for seven years and has won several titles in the three forms of the game. He has led T&T during their most successful period ever.
The selectors have given him their full backing with chairman Ramkessoon saying he is the best man for the job at the present time.
“I think that Daren is the best person to lead T&T at this point in time. We need his experience at the helm and he is tactically a very good captain. He also tends to get his players to play for him and this is what we want.
“We want the players to go out there and play hard and intelligent cricket and win the title for T&T. Ramkessoon said the selectors were of the opinion that the captain alone could not be blamed for T&T not winning titles in 2010.
“You cannot blame the captain alone for us not winning any titles in 2010. That responsibility is with the entire team and once they fail to win any titles, then the entire team has to bear the brunt of the criticism.”
Ramkessoon said that although Ganga was a very good leader, they would like to see him score more runs. “If you check the records it will show that when Ganga scores runs, T&T wins and this is what we want. It is not a question of ability, he has the ability to score and score heavily for T&T. We want him to go out there and get the runs on the board for us. Ganga has served T&T well in the past as a batsman and we are hoping he can re-capture that form once again.”
During the recent T20 cricket festival, Ganga looked in good touch and scored a rapid 36-ball 41 against the T&T Academy in the opening game. Looking ahead at the tournament Ramkessoon said :”We have a very good team and we think that they can get the results for us. Although Dwayne Bravo and Keiron Pollard are out, I think we have enough experience in there for the players to battle and battle well in this series.
The T&T senior team will begin camp today at Paria Suites in La Romaine and will play the T&T ‘A’ team in a grudge match tomorrow at Guaracara Park in Pointe-a-Pierre from 7pm.
