Jamaica Tallawahs will be without the services of assistant coach, Ramnaresh Sarwan for the Caribbean Premier League T20 competition which starts August 18 in Trinidad and Tobago.
He will be replaced by Vinod Maharaj and Ryan Austin for the 2020 Caribbean Premier League.
The change was confirmed by CPL’s Tournament Director, Michael Hall during a virtual press conference yesterday.
“We received notification from his franchise Jamaica Tallawahs that he was requesting permission to leave the tournament because of a personal matter,” Hall said yesterday.
He said that the league will not delve into the particulars of the request but said that the request was granted and Sarwan will not participate in this year’s tournament.
“In circumstances like that we take it at face value because the person has identified it as a personal matter so we are not going to pry into it to ask him to disclose what it is so I can confirm that he left the tournament and will no longer take part as assistant coach with the Jamaica Tallawahs,” he stated.
According to the Trinidad Newsday, Chief Executive Officer of the Tallawahs, Jeff Miller, Sarwan requested permission to return to Guyana and as such will not be with them this year.
“No he (Sarwan) is not part of us this year,” Miller told the Trinidad Newsday.
“Mr Sarwan requested a leave for personal reasons and that was granted,” Miller added.
Hall confirmed that the void created by the absence of the former West Indies captain will be filled by Vinod Maharaj and Ryan Austin.
Sarwan was captured in a photograph at the inauguration of Guyana’s ninth executive president, His Excellency Dr. Mohammed Irfaan Ali at the National Cultural Centre on Saturday.
Miller told the Trinidad Newsday that Sarwan’s experience will be missed.
“Yes it’s a big loss,” said Miller. “Sars (Sarwan) brings a lot to the game – his knowledge, his experience and the way he has dealt with the players over the years, so it is a great loss.
“We are going to look to move forward. This is a rebuilding year for us, (but) I don’t just want to say rebuilding. We here to win the tournament. I think we have a great team and the guys are keen and ready to go and let’s see at the end what happens, but we definitely looking forward to having a great tournament this year.”
Earlier this year, Jamaica’s T20 superstar Chris Gayle accused Sarwan of being behind the Jamaica Tallawahs decision to release him from the side.
Gayle, on a Youtube video also said that the decision was political and that Sarwan and Tallawahs owner Chis Persaud were very close.
Sarwan later issued a press release where he denied the claims by Gayle.
