T&T manager hails 'team of dreamers'

Trinidad & Tobago manager Colin Borde has termed as "a team of dreamers" the side that left for India to compete in the inaugural Champions League Twenty20 starting October 8. Despite the lack of star players and experience in subcontinent conditions Borde said the island team would push itself much harder to prove to the world that they are a quality side.

"The team itself shows a lot of discipline and it is not a difficult task to keep them straight as a pin and as players you guys look out for each other and that's an important part of teamwork and you can see that in how these guys play," he said. "I have known a lot of these guys from a very young age and I have seen them grow into professional cricketers and I know they are never satisfied with the success that they have and that is great. There is a hunger for success and they are always willing to learn."

T&T are pooled with England Twenty20 Cup runners-up Somerset and IPL champions Deccan Chargers, sides that boast a few international names. Borde, however, said that no particular team or individual had the players in awe. "This team has a lot of confidence... I have never seen them crack under pressure. We have a saying that it is just cricket, just bat and bowl. They have a lot of confidence in their ability and a lot of that confidence comes from hard work they have put in over the last few months, said the manager.

"This is a very disciplined team, they have put in the work... they sometimes complain but they always comply. They worked extremely hard at it and their dreams are big dreams. I don't think I have ever met a player on the Trinidad and Tobago team who did not believe that he could go on to be an international player. Their idols are world-class individuals and not only cricketers - sportsmen.

"These guys think big and I hope that the Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board continues to encourage these guys to think big and dream big. This is a team of dreamers and most of their dreams are coming through because most of the requisite work is being done."

T&T will play two warm-up matches before playing their first tournament match against Somerset in Bangalore on October 12. They play Deccan on October 14 in Hyderabad.

T&T squad: Daren Ganga (capt), Dwayne Bravo, Lendl Simmons, William Perkins, Kieron Pollard, Sherwin Ganga, Navin Stewart, Samuel Badree, Darren Bravo, Ravi Rampaul, Denesh Ramdin (wk), Sunil Narine, Adrian Barath, Rayad Emrit, Dave Mohammed.

Cricinfo