Borde: T&T has as good a chance as any

Manager of the T&T cricket team, Colin Borde believes that this country has as good a chance as any team to win the upcoming Champions League in India.

Borde said: “We have a very good chance to win matches and prove to the world that the standard of cricket in T&T is high. This is a tough tournament and there will be no easy games but I have confidence in our squad that they can go very far.” T&T has been pitted in Group A with Indian Professional League (IPL) champion Deccan Charges and English title holders Somerset. The locals begin their campaign on October 12 against Somerset at Bangalore and then meet Deccan Chargers on October 14 at Hyderabad.
T&T will leave on October 4 for India.

Borde added that they are hoping to have at least two trial games before trimming the final squad to 15 for the championships.
“The inclement weather has been a factor in our preparations thus far but we are hoping to round off our preparations with at least two trial matches. The guys have been working very hard and they have taken a very professional outlook to their preparations. We have been touching all aspects of the game in our training sessions and we are about to embark on some game sense scenarios.

“This is crucial to doing well in a tournament that would be very competitive and played at high intensity. Mind games will come into play a lot. We have had former and current players with experience of playing in India in front of massive crowds, meet with the guys to share their knowledge of the situation.” Borde said that looking at the composition of the T&T team, fans can rest assured that the team would do this country proud. “We have a number of experienced players like Dwayne Bravo, Denesh Ramdin, Daren Ganga and Rayad Emrit and they would play a vital role in leading the others.

“This T&T team has been doing very well in regional cricket and although the Champions League is a major step-up, they are talented enough to fit in and get the job done.” With two of the three teams from Group A progressing to the next round of the tournament, T&T will need to at least win one of its two games to stand a chance of moving on. Deccan Chargers will start as favourites to win the tournament, so T&T’s game against Somerset will take on added
importance.

Vinode Mamchan
Trinidad Guardian