The Caribbean Premier League (CPL) 2025 has kicked off with a big announcement from the Trinbago Knight Riders (TKR) camp — star left-hander Nicholas Pooran will lead the side this season, taking over from veteran all-rounder Kieron Pollard.
Pollard will continue playing for the team, but the leadership baton has now officially passed on as TKR aim for another championship. Pooran expressed his pride in captaining a team filled with global T20 icons like Pollard, Sunil Narine, and Andre Russell. Former TKR all-rounder Dwayne Bravo has also returned to the franchise, this time as head coach.
“𝑰𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒂 𝒑𝒓𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒍𝒆𝒈𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝑰’𝒎 𝒈𝒆𝒕𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒑𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒕𝒐 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒇𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒔𝒆. 𝑻𝒐 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒅 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝑷𝒐𝒍𝒍𝒂𝒓𝒅, 𝑵𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒆, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑹𝒖𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒎𝒆𝒂𝒏𝒔 𝒂 𝒍𝒐𝒕. 𝑰’𝒍𝒍 𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒊𝒕 𝒎𝒚 𝒃𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒓𝒆𝒍𝒚 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅 𝒎𝒆,” 𝑷𝒐𝒐𝒓𝒂𝒏 𝒕𝒐𝒍𝒅 𝑬𝑺𝑷𝑵𝒄𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒊𝒏𝒇𝒐.
Pollard on Leadership Transition
Pollard revealed that the team had been grooming Pooran for captaincy over the past few years, and with Bravo stepping in as coach, the timing was perfect for the transition. He praised Pooran’s understanding of the team’s culture and values, calling it a natural move.
“𝑷𝒐𝒐𝒓𝒂𝒏 𝒊𝒔 𝒉𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒈𝒓𝒐𝒘𝒏, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒆’𝒗𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒉𝒊𝒎 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒓𝒐𝒍𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒚𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒔. 𝑯𝒆 𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒔 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒘𝒊𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒄𝒖𝒍𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒄𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒍𝒅𝒘𝒊𝒅𝒆. 𝑭𝒐𝒓 𝒎𝒆, 𝒊𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒂𝒏 𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒚 𝒅𝒆𝒄𝒊𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏,” 𝑷𝒐𝒍𝒍𝒂𝒓𝒅 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅.
The former skipper also hinted that he is nearing the end of his playing career but is committed to supporting Pooran in his leadership journey.
TKR will kickstart their CPL 2025 campaign against St Kitts and Nevis Patriots on Sunday, August 17 at Warner Park in Basseterre. Pooran will be eager to begin his tenure with a winning performance.
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