Kallicharan wants to dethrone Barbados

Kallicharan wants to dethrone Barbados
Published on Jul 3, 2015, 8:35 pm AST


T&T U-17 SKIPPER: Kirstan Kallicharan.


The Trinidad and Tobago Under-17 team finished fifth at last year’s West Indies Cricket Board Under-17 Regional tournament but a deep batting line-up and balanced bowling attack this time around have instilled the team with a great deal of confidence heading into this year’s competition.

T&T are expected mount a serious challenge for the title with Kirstan Kallicharan, Saiba Batoosingh, Cephas Cooper and Keagan Simmons in the side.

The foursome dominated the domestic schools cricket competition and was also in good form in the BG T&T InterZone youth competitions and are also part of the T&T Under-19 contingent that will contest the Regional Under-19 championships later this month.

Young Red Force captain, Kirstan Kallicharan noted that the ammunition at his disposal will make it difficult for Barbados to retain their title in Tobago over the next two weeks.

“The strong points I saw in this team is the batting and our opening bowlers. The opening bowlers gave us a good start in the nets here even though we did not have any match practice but in the nets you saw that they are improving in their game and the top seven batsmen are very strong so we have depth in our batting,” said Kallicharan.

He continued, “The bowlers are very adaptable and they can be used in different situations such as in the power-plays and in the death. I think we have a really all-round team that can go on to win the tournament.”

“The beginning of the camp was great and by the end I think you could see a difference in the team. I was telling coach that we achieved our goals at the end of the camp such as improving our game and I think it helped us a lot to develop our cricketing skills,” Kallicharan noted.

“The team has bonded well in the camp which is a great thing for us. Last year we did not do to well but this year will be different because the guys want to go out there and play hard and smart cricket. The Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board has given us everything such as ensuring we were mentally and physically prepared so I guess we have to go out there and do the job now,” he added.

“There is a bit of pressure for us but at the end of the day we know we have to go out there and do our jobs. It is going to be hard for us not in the first tournament but in the second one because whatever happens in the first tournament is going to transfer into the second tournament and that is either going to make us or break us. We just have to stay strong and the other guys in the team have to keep on working hard and keep their focus,” said Kallicharan.

I hope both of them lose out to Jamaica in the end! It is good to see the young crickets having ambition to win unlike their senior counterparts who are just happy collecting the biggest paycheck they can get.