The Hero Caribbean Premier League 2021 (CPL 2021) is scheduled to commence on August 26, and the Guyana Amazon Warriors will be hoping to book their spot in the grand finale on September 15.
Guyana Jaguars Head Coach Esuan Crandon, who has been going over the necessary drills with Warriors batsman Chandrapaul Hemraj, is optimistic that Hemraj would be a success in this year’s edition of the global T20 tournament.
In an exclusive interview with this publication, Coach Crandon said he is confident in Hemraj’s ability, and is adamant that he would excel this year, unlike what had happened in previous years.
“I think obviously he has been putting in the work so far. He has been working on his strength and conditioning, which is very important. As you know, fitness would go hand-in-hand with cricket and skill and so on. I think, you know, he has been putting in the work and pushing, you know, his body to an extent, and I’m happy about that.
“With regards to his technical work and its tactical, you know skill work, you know he’s clear as to what he needs to do. At the moment, he has been working, trying to develop or acquire a couple of skills that will, you know, give him more opportunity to score with freedom and obviously score, pick up big gaps and so on, put some pressure on the ball. So that’s a work in progress.
“The important thing for me is that he’s very experienced, and he knows what he’s about. And he knows what he needs to do, you know, to dominate CPL; so, we heading in the right direction with regards to that.” Crandon explained.
Sharing his expectations of the stylish Hemraj, Crandon noted that in terms of his expectations, Hemraj is looking really good, he is hitting the ball as usual, and he looks good. Crandon related that even though he is looking good in the nets, one cannot bring success just by looking good.
Crandon reiterated that Hemraj has got to go out and produce the goods, produce the numbers, put runs on the board. Crandon also stated that he believes Hemraj is capable of doing such, and is confident that once his fitness is up there and it improves, he is going to be able to bat longer and get a lot more runs in CPL.
Crandon said in his parting remark: “I think he’s going to do well this year; and hopefully, you know, he backs up that hard work he is doing with solid mental preparation going into CPL.”
Hemraj has recently concluded his journey in the MAQ USA T10 League, where he emerged as the leading run-scorer. He had stellar performances of 60 off 19 balls and 66 off 25 balls in convincing match-winning innings. He also ended the tournament hitting 25 sixes and scoring the most runs – 235 – at an average of 58.75 and a strike rate of 235.
In 2020, Hemraj played in the US OPEN CRICKET and walked away with 190 runs, a high score of 87, and an average of 63.33 at a strike rate of 163.79 while playing for the Somerset Cavaliers.
Also, in the recently concluded 2021 edition of the LA Open T20 tournament, Hemraj was excellent with the new ball. From his six games, he bagged seven wickets at an average of 12.71 and an economy rate of 5.56. (Timothy Jaikarran)
