St Lucia Zouks have been one of the worst performing teams in Caribbean Premier League history. Forget about winning the title or even qualifying for the finals, the Zouks have managed to qualify for the playoffs only once in the seven CPL editions. They finished outside the top four in the last season as well and they will really need to churn out their best if they want to come up with a better performance this time.
Claim to fame: Playoffs (2016)
Coach: Andy Flower
Captain: Darren Sammy
St Lucia Zouks Squad for CPL 2020:
Daren Sammy, Andre Fletcher, Kesrick Williams, Obed McCoy, Rahkeem Cornwall, Kavem Hodge,, Kimani Melius, Mohammad Nabi, Chemar Holder, Mark Deyal, Leniko Boucher, Javelle Glen, Saad Bin Zafar (ICC Americas pick), Scott Kuggeleijn, Najibullah Zadran, Roston Chase, Zahir Khan
Probable Playing XI
Rahkeem Cornwall, Andre Fletcher (wk), Leniko Boucher, Roston Chase, Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi, Darren Sammy [C], Scott Kuggeleijn, Kesrick Williams, Obed McCoy, Zahir Khan
Strengths
Explosive openers and Lower-middle order powerhitters
Rahkeem Cornwall and Andre Fletcher form one of the most explosive opening pairs in the CPL. Fletcher is not only the third highest scorer in CPL history but also the all-time top scorer for the Zouks. Cornwall, on the other hand, scored the most runs for Zouks in the last season and his tournament strike-rate of 190.97 was the best among batsmen who had batted in at least five innings.
As far as the lower middle-order is considered, we can see the likes of Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi and skipper Darren Sammy slotting in at No.5, 6 and 7 respectively. All of them are proven powerhitters and can do a lot of damage with the bat in the middle and slug overs.
Strong spin-bowling attack
Mohammad Nabi and Zahir Khan appear to be the main spinners in the Zouks’ bowling attack. However, they also have Rahkeem Cornwall and Roston Chase, who can bowl spin if required. Cornwall, though, would be eager to do much better than his last season’s bowling performance — one wicket at a dismal average of 134. Chase has already proven himself quite effective as a spinner in ODI cricket and will be looking to do the same in this format. Nabi and Zahir, on the other hand, are seasoned Afghan internationals who have played all over the world, in various leagues. They have their Canadian import, Saad Bin Zafar, in the ranks as well.
Effective pace attack
The pace bowling unit doesn’t have any such big names but the likes of Kesrick Williams, Obed McCoy and Scott Kuggeleijn are well capable of getting the job done. Williams is one of the most experienced bowlers in CPL history. He has 53 wickets to his name in the history of the League and that too, at an excellent strike-rate of 15.6. Obed McCoy has shown his potential in recent years as well. He has 19 wickets to his name at an outstanding strike-rate of 16.2 once again. And their Kiwi import, Scott Kuggeleijn, is one of the most sought after pacers around the world in this format. He has some nice variations and can swing his bat down the order as well.
Weaknesses/Issues:
Untested No.3 and 4
While most other areas look quite balanced, the likes of Leniko Boucher at No.3 and Roston Chase at No.4 are a little untested. Although Boucher played well last season in the limited opportunities he got, he is still a little lesser experienced as compared to others. Chase, on the other hand, despite being a seasoned Caribbean international across the Test and ODI format, has played only five T20s so far. So, these two slots in their batting order leave a lot on chances.
Early departure of Nabi, Zadran and Zahir
With the Shpageeza League preponed by a week now, the likes of Mohammad Nabi, Najibullah Zadran and Zahir Khan might depart early. That will leave a big void in the team as they will have to let go two of their lead spinners and a quality batsman as well. Although the players in their reserves like Kimani Melius and Kavem Hodge have potential, they can hardly match the qualities of the Afghan internationals.
Expected Results in CPL 2020: The Zouks can actually make it to the playoffs if they manage to win most of their first eight games. However, once the Afghan trio depart, things will get a lot tougher for them.