With less than a week to go before the Caribbean Premier League gets its 2020 season underway, Jamaica Tallawahs assistant coach Ramnaresh Sarwan has decided to pull out, leaving former West Indies spinner Ryan Austin to replace him at the franchise.
The Tallawahs CEO Jeff Miller told Trinidad and Tobago Newsday, "Sarwan requested leave for personal reasons and that was granted. It's a big loss. Sars (Sarwan) brings a lot to the game - his knowledge, his experience and the way he has dealt with the players over the years, so it is a great loss."
The tournament comprising 33 matches is slated to get underway on August in Trinidad & Tobago and all the matches are to be hosted between two stadiums. Tallawahs will play their first match on August 19, against St Lucia Zouks.
Despite the setback, Miller remained optimistic about their season ahead.
"This is a rebuilding year for us (but)...we are here to win the tournament. I think we have a great team and the guys are keen and ready to go and let's see at the end what happens, but we are definitely looking forward to having a great tournament this year," he said.
This isn't the first time Sarwan has been in the news. He recently came under fire from West Indies great Chris Gayle, who labelled Sarwan 'worse than the (global) virus' and blamed him for allegedly creating differences between Gayle and team, eventually resulting in the hard-hitting batsman not being retained by the team.
Feature image courtesy: AFP / Prakash Singh
