Pravin Tambe, at 48, has become the first Indian cricketer to feature in the Caribbean Premier League. Tambe was named in the playing XI by Trinbago Knight Riders on Wednesday for the match against St Lucia Zouks at Queen’s Park Oval in Trinidad and Tobago.
TKR have some of the biggest names of the Hero CPL including skipper Kieron Pollard, Dwayne Bravo, Sunil Narine and Colin Munro. But the spin-friendly conditions in Trinidad have prompted the team management to go give to the 48-year-old leggie, who is also the lone Indian in the tournament.
Tambe replaced Narine in the XI, presumably to rest the West Indies star.
And it didn’t take him too long to get among the wickets either. He took a wicket in his first over, with a googly, but he also ended up conceding 15 runs in it. Najibullah Zadran (21 off 21 balls) had struggled to get going but hit a six off the first ball in the over. He, however, didn’t read the wrong’un at the end and Tambe’s first wicket came fairly quickly.
Najibullah misread the googly and gave Pollard a simple catch at cover, and Tambe had his own little moment of history on a day Dwayne Bravo became the first ever bowler to reach 500 T20 wickets.
The Indian, however, managed to bowl just that one over in a rain-hit match.
Tambe had entered his name into the CPL draft after he was disqualified from IPL 2020 by the BCCI.
In the 2020 IPL auction, Kolkata Knight Riders bagged him but he was later forced to withdraw after the Indian cricket board pulled him up for playing in unsanctioned cricket leagues like the T10.
TKR are owned by a group that includes Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan; the group that also owns IPL’s KKR franchise, incidentally. The Trinidad and Tobago franchise have won the CPL three times.
“I am fit and since the BCCI does not allow me to take part in its competitions why shouldn’t I play in other leagues. I am eligible to play outside and got picked by TKR. I will also take all necessary precautions and follow protocols before going there,” Tambe had then said.
The BCCI does not allow active players to sign for franchise-based leagues outside the country in a bid to protect the Indian Premier League but many cricketers have been asking for a relaxation of the rule.
Tambe, who has played just two first-class matches, shot to fame during IPL 2013 while playing for Rajasthan Royals as a 41-year-old. He spent three seasons with the 2008 champions before having spells at now-defunct Gujarat Lions, and Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Note: Sunny Sohal is a former Indian first-class cricketer, currently representing the USA, who has been part of Barbados Tridents in the past. Despite being an Indian, he is considered a USA-registered player. (He is an ICC Americas player). Pravin Tambe is the first player registered as an Indian to feature in the CPL.
Brief scores:
Trinbago Knight Riders 75/4 (DM Bravo 23*, Seifert 18*, Munro 17; Williams 2/17, Nabi 1/15, C Holder 1/24) beat St Lucia Zouks 111/6 (Nabi 30*, Najibullah 21, Cornwall 18; DJ Bravo 2/7, Tambe 1/15, Pierre 1/19, Fawad 1/21) by 6 wickets (DLS target 72 off 9 overs)
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