TRINBAGO Knight Riders (TKR) captain Dwayne Bravo wants his team to make a quick start at home in this season of the Caribbean Premier League (CPL), which bowls off on Friday.
TKR will face St Lucia Stars in the opening match of the CPL in St Lucia on Friday, before playing five matches in Trinidad. Bravo is hoping TKR can start with more victories at home this year after a less than impressive start in 2016.
TKR played their first four matches at home in 2016, but could only muster one victory.
“Every tournament you play in you always want to start on a positive note, you want to win early games,” Bravo said.
“Home advantage does not guarantee you will win, we have to play as a team, do the right things and do the basics. There will be pressure situations and key moments and we have to identify those moments and capitalise.” Bravo expects the TKR fans to come out in their numbers and believes the TT franchise can win the title.
“It is always good to play home because we always have a full house. We know the support for the TKR team is always good, but having said that we have to play to our true potential and I believe if we play to our true potential it is going to be difficult to beat us.” Bravo has played little cricket this year due to a hamstring injury, and he knows he must pace himself.
“For me I am excited because I have not played cricket for about six months. Since my hamstring surgery this will be my first time out and I feel like I am making my debut all over again.
“The excitement is there but at the same time I have to take my time and be careful. I have not played any competitive cricket, and CPL is a tournament that is very tough, it’s very competitive.” Some of the players lining up for TKR this year are South African Hashim Amla and the local trio of Sunil Narine, Darren Bravo and Denesh Ramdin. The TKR captain said, “Our chances are just as good as any other team because our team is very good. We have a lot of experience and some young talent as well, good international players.”
