Gayle no worries, says Ramdin

Captain of the T&T cricket team Denesh Ramdin says the presence of Jamaican master blaster Chris Gayle at this tournament will not affect his team in anyway.

Ramdin, speaking to T&T Guardian at the Bay Garden’s Hotel said: “We are not worried by the presence of Chris Gayle at this tournament. For all you know we may not even meet him. We are in the finals but they still have two matches to win to get into the finals. Worrying about Chris Gayle is not our priority at the moment.”

On the contrary, Ramdin says he is glad that Gayle is playing in the tournament. 

“Obviously it is good to have Gayle in the tournament. He is a star attraction and having a player like him take part in the tournament would obviously lift the bar and that is good. As far as how we view him at this point he is not in our plans, we need to concentrate on our game and look to fine tune ahead of the finals.”

By virtue of topping the preliminary round with 21 points, T&T has gained a berth directly into the finals. Guyana, Jamaica and Windwards are battling for play-off spots. 

The contest between second—and third-placed teams take place tonight at 8 pm. 

The final is set for tomorrow night at 8 pm.

The T&T team had a rest in the morning period and held a light training session at the Gros Islet playing field from 2.30 pm. 

Ramdin said over the next two days they will be concentrating on their fielding, and on the bowling. “We are looking at the fielding very closely and we think that we have some work to do that department. We can also improve more on the bowling side of things, so we will be working on that as well.”

He also added that some of the players who have not had a bat since arriving in St Lucia, will take in net sessions in the event that they are needed to bat in the final.

“We have looked at everything and we are not taking any chances. We are preparing as best as we can for the finals and we are leaving no stone unturned.” 

Meanwhile, two Caribbean Airlines flights packed with T&T supporters landed in St Lucia yesterday afternoon and T&T is expected to get good support at the match. 

The spectators were seen wandering around the Rodney Bay area yesterday, and they all seemed very excited at the prospects of T&T making it a hat-trick of titles come tomorrow.

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