Five big names who are not playing in the CPL
The extravagant Windies franchise cricket league, the Caribbean Premier League, has, over the years gained as much popularity as Australia’s Big Bash League. With star international cricketers fighting it out in down-to-the-wire games, the league has only grown in popularity with each passing year.
The tournament is contested among six teams, each of which can field a maximum of six overseas players. Four teams make it to the knockout stage, from which the finalists and winners emerge.
While the world’s finest players often feature in the tournament, some of them are not playing this year, and their absence is sorely being felt. Here are five players who are not featuring this season:
#5 Kevin Pietersen
Kevin Pietersen was expected to play for the St Lucia Stars in the on-going edition of the CPL. But he instead chose to make a return to Surrey for the NatWest T20 blast, which is being held at the same time as the CPL.
The England cricketer appeared in the 2014 and 2015 editions of the cricketing extravaganza but pulled out of the 2016 edition to take some time off from cricket. The batsman has plied his trade in many T20 franchise tournaments including South Africa's T20 Challenge, Australia’s Big Bash League, the Pakistan Super League and the Indian Premier League. One of England’s greatest ever batsmen, Pietersen would have added more excitement and flavour to the CPL.