CPL 2016: Team of the Tournament
Jamaica Tallawahs comprehensively beat Guyana Amazon Warriors by nine wickets to clinch their second Carribean Premier League title and thus established themselves as the Carribean T20 league’s most successful team in its four-year history. Criticised from some quarters for being scheduled when the national side is facing-off against India in a four-match Test series, the CPL had the final laugh though with the likes of Chris Gayle, Dwayne Bravo and Andre Russell lighting up the T20 tournament with their superb performances.
A number of international players also added to the Carribean flavour with the likes of Shane Watson, Brendon McCullum and Kumar Sangakkara joining in after their recent retirement from international cricket. Established players overshadowed the upcoming talent but there were still quite a few who made their cases for a bright future.
With the tournament done and dusted for the year, let’s take a look at the 2016 CPL Team of the Tournament.
1. Chris Gayle (Jamaica Tallawahs)
Leading the Tallawahs to their second CPL title, the fourth edition of the T20 tournament turned out to be a true reflection of Gayle as a cricketer with the 36-year-old often switching on his famous destructive demeanour but also struggled at times to get the scoreboard ticking. Still, Gayle managed to score 425 runs from 13 matches, including an unbeaten knock of 108 against Trinbago Knight Riders which came off just 54 balls.
Overall, Gayle scored his runs at a strike rate of above 150 and just his sheer presence proved to a detractor to the opposition bowlers at times. He finished as the third highest run-scorer in the tournament.