After their disappointing outing in CPL 2019, during which they finished at the bottom of the table, two-time title winners Jamaica Tallawahs would be eager to come up with a much improved performance this season.
Claim to fame: Champions (2013,2016)
Coach: Floyd Reifer
Captain: Rovman Powell
Jamaica Tallawahs Squad for CPL 2020:
Andre Russell, Rovman Powell, Glenn Philipps, Chadwick Walton, Oshane Thomas, Sandeep Lamicchane, Carlos Brathwaite, Asif Ali, Fidel Edwards, Preston McSween, Nicholas Kirton, Nkrumah Bonner, Veerasammy Permaul, Ryan Persaud (ICC Americas pick), Jermaine Blackwood, Ramaal Lewis, Mujeeb Ur Rahman
Probable Playing XI
Glenn Phillips, Chadwick Walton(wk), Nicholas Kirton/Jermaine Blackwood, Rovman Powell, Andre Russell , Asif Ali, Carlos Brathwaite, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Oshane Thomas, Fidel Edwards, Sandeep Lamichhane
Strengths
Reliable Openers
In Glenn Phillips and Chadwick Walton, Jamaica Tallawahs have two of the most reliable and consistent openers in CPL history. While Walton is the fifth highest scorer in the history of Caribbean Premier League with 1779 runs at an average of 26.55, Phillips has also proven his worth ever since his arrival to the CPL. In fact, since 2017, Phillips is one of the highest run-getters in CPL with 1007 runs to his name at an average of 35.96.
Powerful middle and lower-middle order
The Tallawahs’ middle and lower order consists of explosive batsmen like Rovman Powell, Asif Ali, Carlos Brathwaite and none other than Andre Russell himself. Russell is a one man army. He bats, he bowls and he fields like a machine. If he remains fit throughout the tournament, he has the ability to take the team to the finals almost single-handedly.
Brathwaite is a similar sort of player too and he can be expected to take the team over the line in tense situations more often than not. There is their skipper Powell as well, who is a destructive batsman himself. And Asif Ali just makes the lineup look even more intimidating.
Quality Spinners and Pacers
The spin bowling attack is one of the major talking point of the Tallawahs. On one side, there is a classy leg-spinner like Sandeep Lamichhane, who has proven his worth all around the world, having played in leagues like the IPL and BBL, and on the other side, there is the Afghan sensation Mujeeb-ur-Rahman, who bamboozles batsmen with his mystery spin. Like Lamichhane, Mujeeb has also played in all the major leagues like the BBL and the IPL, and even the best batsmen have found it difficult to play him.
The pace attack of the Tallawahs looks pretty good too. There is an experienced Fidel Edwards to lead them and the young Oshane Thomas adds some fire in this department with his raw pace. Not only that, Russell and Brathwaite are capable of delivering their full quota of overs regularly and both of them are wicket-taking pacers as well.
Weaknesses/Issues: Jamaica Tallawahs don’t have any glaring issues. The only area of concern is probably the No.3 spot where either of Nicholas Kirton or Jermaine Blackwood might bat. While Kirton is a relatively inexperienced youngster, Blackwood doesn’t have good T20 numbers to his name either. However, he has shown his attacking approach of batting in red-ball cricket recently and hence, he would be hopeful of converting that into this format.
Expected Result in CPL 2020: This side has tremendous potential on paper. If all of them can deliver on that, they can definitely do much better than how they fared in the previous edition. They certainly look like one of the playoff contenders for this year.