‘Tallawahs will benefit from Brathwaite’s talent’

Former Jamaica and West Indies players Franklyn Rose and Nikita Miller believe that the acquisition of Carlos Brathwaite by the Jamaica Tallawahs franchise will be beneficial to the two-time Caribbean Premier League champions.

Brathwaite, who was not retained by the St Kitts and Nevis Patriots for this year's CPL, was snapped up by the Tallawahs in what is dubbed a replacement for veteran batsman Chris Gayle, who was himself not retained by the Jamaican franchise.

Miller, who played the first three seasons for the Jamaica Tallawahs before moving to the Trinbago Knight Riders, says the Tallawahs will benefit from the talent of Brathwaite and that the globetrotting all-rounder could be the catalyst for a turnaround in the fortunes of the under-pressure franchise.

"Carlos is a very good all-rounder and a known performer. He is definitely a game-changer and has a lot of passion and an eye for winning," says Miller.

Tough task

The left-arm spinner Miller, who retired from the sport last season, says Brathwaite will have a tough task filling the boots left by the 'Universe Boss', however, he believes that the towering all-rounder can bring some much-needed leadership skills to the Tallawahs set-up.

"Carlos is a good leader, as he has shown with the Patriots, and he can bring something different to the Tallawahs team. He definitely will add some aggression because he hates to lose, and he will be competitive right throughout."

Miller added that having Floyd Reifer as the coach working alongside Brathwaite and the senior players like Andre Russell, Rovman Powell, and Chadwick Walton will also help the team to improve on their underwhelming 2019 campaign.

"Floyd and Carlos have worked well together in the past as they won the Super 50 as a team. That combination, along with the other players, could bring back a sense of good feeling and belief in the Tallawahs camp," added Miller.

In the meantime, Rose believes that the Barbadian Brathwaite will have to pull out his World T20 match-winning performance to win over the Jamaican fans, who will still be hurting from the departure of Gayle.

"Chris will be sadly missed, and replacing him will be a tough ask. Carlos will be under pressure to perform right away because the Jamaican fans are supportive of their own, and I hope they don't boo him like what has happened in the past. When I used to play in front of my home fans, I used to be nervous, so I know he will be under pressure."

Rose believes that the Tallawahs should move on from the negative publicity and not put too much pressure on Brathwaite and should play as a team.

"My advice to the team is for them to put last year's performance behind them and just come out and play cricket as a team and not focus on individual performances. If they can get that part of their game together, they will be hard to beat," added Rose.