Trinidad, May 20: The defending champions Trinbago Knight Riders have announced the retained ahead of the Caribbean Premier League (CPL 2021) which gets underway in St Kitts & Nevis on August 28.
The Knight Riders have held on to 13 of the players who saw them complete a perfect season in 2020, winning all 12 of their matches to claim a record fourth CPL title.
The team will be led by Kieron Pollard, Wisden's leading T20 cricketer in the world, with Colin Munro, Lendl Simmons and Darren Bravo back after fantastic performances last season.
The Knight Riders also welcomed back Zimbabwean international Sikandar Raza and USA fast bowler Ali Khan, both of whom performed well in 2020.
Sunil Narine has been a franchise player and a champion for the Knight Riders. Although he struggled with an injury in the 2020 season, the Knight Riders have retained him and will expect him to be at his best for this season. The TKR will be hoping for more appearances from the mystery spinner who has bamboozled batsmen around the world.
With a strong contingent of young Trinidadian players rounding out their squad, the Knight Riders will be hoping to carry their outstanding form into the 2021 season. They have four more spots to fill in their squad and these will be confirmed in the coming weeks.
Players retained by Trinbago Knight Riders: Kieron Pollard, Sunil Narine, Colin Munro, Darren Bravo, Lendl Simmons, Khary Pierre, Sikandar Raza, Anderson Phillip, Denesh Ramdin, Tion Webster, Akeal Hosein, Jayden Seales, Ali Khan.
Players released by Trinbago Knight Riders: Pravin Tambe, Tim Seifert, Fawad Ahmed, Amir Jangoo.