BY AZAD ALI From Caribbean Life

Two-time World Cup, winning captain, Darren Sammy says the plethora of West Indies players picked in the Twenty10 draft for the Nov. 23 to December tournament set for the Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Dubai, is an indication of the Caribbean’s strength in the game’s shorter versions.

Among the West Indies players, include Twenty20 Captain Carlos Braithwaite and superstar Chris Gayle, who are scattered among the eight teams for the tournament.

He said it is good to know that so many West Indians are being picked up in the draft, especially from the recent concluded Caribbean Premier League (CPL)-Khary Pierre, Sherfane Rutherford (Bengal Tigers), Fabien Allen (Kerla Kings) and young Obed McCoy getting a look in the format, following last Monday’s draft.

Sammy said: “I think the shorter format over the last two decades we’ve always done better. In the last three Twenty20s World Cups we’ve been in at least the semi-finals, and won it twice (2012) and (2016).”

The former West Indies captain believes, however, that the shorter formats can produce the type of development required for West Indies to flourish again in the longer format of the game.

The Twenty10 League, similar to the popular Twenty20 format, is a fast-paced version of the game which came on stream last year.