CPL 2025: Nicholas Pooran succeeds Kieron Pollard as Trinbago Knight Riders captain

The Caribbean Premier League (CPL) season has already begun, and the Trinbago Knight Riders have picked gorgeous southpaw Nicholas Pooran as their captain for the 2025 campaign. Former captain Kieron Pollard will remain in the lineup, with only the leadership name changing, as the franchise hopes to capture another title with a victory in this edition.

Pooran says it is a source of pride for him to be leading players such as Pollard, Sunil Narine, and Andre Russell — probably the world’s top three all-rounders, particularly in T20 franchise competitions. Meanwhile, another former TKR all-rounder, Dwayne Bravo, has returned as head coach, and Pooran believes that being in such a star-studded room would give him the confidence he needs to manage a successful organisation.

“It means a lot, first and foremost, to represent Trinbago Knight Riders. It is a privilege that I’m getting the opportunity to lead this franchise. I want to give it my best shot, and hopefully make as many correct decisions as I can. It’s a responsibility that has been passed on from Bravo to Pollard, and now to me. For me, the most satisfying thing is that Pollard is still playing; Sunil [Narine] and Andre [Russell] are here too. That’s a lot of experience I can bank on. To lead them on the field – it means a lot to me,” Pooran was quoted as saying by.

I don’t know how long I’ll play: Kieron Pollard

Pollard, who is relieving the position for Pooran, has said that the side had been grooming the latter for quite some time to take over the captaincy position. The senior cricketer further believes that Pooran knows how to create and maintain a winning culture within the dressing room, which is extremely crucial for a captain a side. All in all, Pollard says it wasn’t a tough decision for the franchise to look elsewhere when Pooran has been a part of their set-up over the last few years.

“I believe grooming the next generation is very important. With Bravo coming on board this year as the new head coach, we felt this is the right time to get a new captain in. Pooran is homegrown, and I think this is the right opportunity for him. We’ve actually been preparing him for this over the years.” Pollard said.

I don’t know how much longer I’m going to be playing for, but I’m happy for the opportunity to still be on the field and help Nicholas ease into this role. He’s someone who we’ve seen grow in front of us, and he understands our values and principles. He understands how we want to play cricket, he understands the winning culture that we want to create, and he shares a lot of respect with a lot of players around the world. So for me, it was an easy decision to hand over the captaincy to Pooran,” he added.