PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad (CMC) – Trinidad and Tobago captain Daren Ganga said yesterday he was viewing every preliminary round match in the Caribbean Twenty20 tournament as a final. Ganga was speaking as the team left for Barbados to contest the first phase of the July 22-31 tournament.
“We have two finals to attend to in Barbados and then we return here for one more, before the knockout stages,” he said.
“We have the mindset that every game is a final and this is how we are going to approach them.”
Trinidad and Tobago open their campaign against Canada tomorrow before turning their attention to the Leeward Islands on Saturday, with both matches being played at Kensington Oval.
They will then return home to play Jamaica next Wednesday at the Queen’s Park Oval in their final preliminary match.
T&T won the last regional T20 tournament staged in 2008, which led to their qualification for the Champions League in India.
They then shocked the international cricket fraternity by playing unbeaten to reach the final before they lost to Australian state side New South Wales Blues.
Ganga said with the strong composition of his side, he was confident of returning to the Champions League scheduled for South Africa in September.
“We have worked very hard over the past months in getting to this point and now it’s about going out there and delivering, executing the plan,” said the out-of-favour West Indies batsman.
“We have some very experienced players in the line-up and they know what to expect in this tournament. The nature of T20 cricket is very unpredictable but there are certain basics you stick to and success will come your way.
“We are hoping to repeat as champions and go on to South Africa to represent the Caribbean.”