By Royston Alkins
The lucid tale of the Guyana Amazon Warriors franchise has over the course of the Caribbean Premier League (CPL), been met with mixed reactions and unfortunate fortunes.
The team, for all intents and purposes is undoubtedly one of the most successful T20 franchises without a title, having lost in the final on four occasions.
For Warriors, the 2019 instalment of the biggest party in sport, CPL, has seen what fans have been accustomed to – another clinical display from the South American franchise who are over the moon after completing a historic 10 consecutive wins, playing the preliminary round unbeaten.
As expected, fans are becoming anxious as the optimism and desperation of clutching that elusive title begins to haunt the fan base because of an indifferent history in the playoffs.
One man though, Keemo Paul, who is one of the faces of the franchise, is not at all bothered about Warriors’ previous blunders at the business end of the tournament.
“As you can see, each player is up for the task… if one doesn’t perform the other one does, so I think that is what keeps the team going so good,” Paul said of the physiology of his side during the current 2019 run.
Asked whether there are any lingering ‘nerves’ buzzing around the team as they possibly head into another CPL final, the 21-year-old of Wakenaam, quickly rubbished the idea that the side is feeling any undue pressure.
“We are basically taking it one day at a time… the playoff is on Sunday and we are just taking it step-by-step,” he said.
“We are sticking to the basics, we are backing our strengths and we are just doing what we have to do personally,” he added.
Paul, however, admitted that there is little reluctance within the side even as pundits profess them to be the firm favourites. The unit, he declared, is focused and they have placed the microscope on a few areas for improvement as they approach the playoffs.
He specifically harped on the middle order delivering, if the need arises.
“There is always room for improvement; the top order have been giving us some wonderful starts but they wouldn’t do that every single game so each player [in the middle order] needs to step up,” he said.
As Paul pointed out, the top order comprising of Brandon King who has so far compiled 321 runs in his breakout season, his opening partner Chandrapaul Hemraj (271 runs) and Skipper Shoaib Malik (281 runs) have been the rock of batting thus far.
Equally important has been the quality of the bowlers, who have been dependable and consistent with their efforts. Chris Green and Imran Tahir have led the way 13 scalps each up to this point, while Paul has quietly snagged 10 wickets. Romario Shepherd is also right up there with nine wickets.
