PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC – Adrian Barath gave new Trinidad & Tobago captain and West Indies teammate Denesh Ramdin a big vote of confidence ahead of the Caribbean Twenty20 Championship next month.
Barath, the diminutive West Indies opener, said he backed Ramdin to do a sound job as captain of the reigning CT20 champions, after controversy swirled following the decison of Daren Ganga to resign from the post which he held for a decade.
“Denesh is the ideal man for the job,” said Barath in an interview with the Trinidad Newsday newspaper. “He has the cricketing brain and knowledge to lead the national team.
“Obviously, he has big shoes to fill and he knows this. But I think he has all the right credentials to succeed Ganga.”
Barath added: “I think there is a lot of pressure and expectation on Denesh right now. Everybody is expecting him to win and continue the success the team has enjoyed. I am confident we can do that with Denesh at the helm and I know we are in capable hands.
“Denesh has been groomed for leadership…He captained the West Indies Under-19 team, he was the vice-captain of the West Indies team, and even captained them in a few matches. He also captained the national team on several occasions.
Barath said: “When Daren split the webbing in his hand at the CT20 last year, Denesh was our captain in the Final, which we won.
“Denesh has leadership in his blood and we will make it easy for him…He has the full support of the team and we want to be successful with him as captain.”
Barath said it would be a strange feeling going into a tournament without Ganga at the helm, but he felt the national team was experienced enough to deal with this new situation.
“Daren Ganga resigning is a big loss and is a sad day for T&T cricket,” he said. “He is the best T&T captain ever and this is reflected in the silverware he has won, because that is where it counts.
“It will be strange going to a tournament and knowing he is not there, but if you look at the team there is experience all around.”
He said: “Daren’s leadership was critical in transforming the national team into a winning unit. We had good teams in the past, but he made us into a winning unit.”
T&T have been drawn in Group-A with Guyana, Leeward Islands, Windward Islands and Canada.
They open the tournament against Windward Islands on opening day, January 9, at the Vivian Richards Cricket Ground in Antigua.
