PORT-OF-SPAIN – The West Indies Test captain Denesh Ramdin has cried victimisation after he was fired as captain of the Trinidad and Tobago squad for the forthcoming domestic four-day tournament.
Ramdin said he was shocked when he received the news during a meeting on Monday with the executive of the Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board (TTCB) to discuss the new season.
Allrounder Rayad Emrit has been appointed captain.
“It [the meeting] was to talk about playing for Trinidad, so I told them [TTCB], ‘Yes I will be available for Trinidad,” and I said, “Yes, no problem,” said Ramdin in an interview with the Trinidad Express newspaper.
“I will be at training tomorrow [yesterday], and then they said I am no longer the captain.”
Ramdin’s removal as captain follows an assurance from the TTCB that their national players involved in the abandoned tour of India, will not face censure and will be considered for selection in the upcoming regional first class season.
President Azim Bassarath has been quoted as saying that his board would not get involved in the selection process and would leave the matter of who represented the country up to the selectors.
“In moving forward they are trying to go in a different direction,” said Ramdin. “I am axed as captain and they announced Rayad Emrit will be captain going forward for Trinidad and Tobago. I think it is more victimisation because they were asking me questions about India and my lawyer said not to talk about it, so I think they were trying to get more information on that aspect.”
Patrick Rampersad, a vice-president of the Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board, has denied Ramdin’s allegation.
Rampersad was quoted by Trinidad Express as saying that the executive could not have removed Ramdin as captain without a recommendation from the selectors.
“I think they are trying to victimise me and some of the other players, but I am not going to let it disrupt me mentally,” said Ramdin, who has been in prolific form with the bat for West Indies in recent times.
“I am just trying to get back into the right frame of mind to play and I know we [T&T] have a couple of games before going to South Africa, so I will just try to get myself mentally prepared. We have a game against Barbados at the [Queen’s Park] Oval, so that is my main focus right now, to get out there and be playing cricket again.”
Ramdin was among the 15-man Windies squad that quit the India tour over a contract row with the West Indies Cricket Board.
The TTCB had strongly condemned the decision to abandon the tour in the form of a motion moved at a recent board meeting. (CMC)
