Captain of the Guyana under-17, Sheldon Charles is calling on the team to band together in an effort to secure their maiden title as they open their Cricket West Indies Regional tournament campaign against hosts Trinidad and Tobago today.
Speaking to this publication prior to their final training session yesterday, Charles said that the team was in good spirits since they would have participated in the local Inter-County Under-19 tournament where they got the opportunity to play as a unit.
The all-rounder expressed confidence with the team, saying that there is a balance among the group and it is left up to the players to perform to their potential.
The top order will see Charles along with Zeynul Ramsammy, Sarwan Chaitnarine, Canada-based Matthew Nandu and Mavindra Dindyal the key players.
Nandu was recently been snapped up by Vancouver Knights in the Global T20 Cananda while Dindyal is a promising West Indies under-15 batsman who had a successful run in the Under-15 Regional tournament coming out with the most runs and the tournament’s Most Valuable Player.
Charles, a frontline seamer, along with Jagdesh Dowlatram, will be expected to carry the bulk of the pace attack but spin bowling all-rounders Andre Seepersaud, Chandrapaul Ramraj and Niran Bissu will be called upon to come good with both bat and ball.
The skipper told Stabroek Sport that preparation has been going well for them with a camp being instituted prior to their departure, something that was absent last year.
Charles opined that his side has “about a 90 percent chance” to win the title this year especially with the conditions favouring them.
The Regional under-17 title is the only one that Guyana has not won.
National Under-17 Squad: Sheldon Charles (captain), Matthew Nandu, Sarwan Chitnarine, Marvan Prashad, Mavendra Dindyal, Niran Bissu , Zeynul Ramsammy, Andre Seepersaud, Azizi Christiani, Chandrapaul Ramraj, Jagdesh Dowlatram, Chaitram Balgobin , Avinash Rajkumar, Ajay Gainda, Orin Bailey (Coach), Nazeer Mohammed (Manager).
