The Caribbean Premier League has been an exciting event this year and has produced some brilliant performances from some of the best players in the trade.
However, it is set to be a bit light on stardom for the last few weeks of the tournament with a set of player from South Africa set to be leaving the tournament completing their stint with their respective franchises.
Cricket South Africa has a contractual obligation to the players to attend the annual Cricket South Africa / South African Cricketers Association Awards ceremony which takes place in Johannesburg and this will top class players leave their teams mid-way through the season.
The Barbados Trident will be severely hit by this agreement as they will see two of their most influential players in AB de Villiers and Wayne Parnell leave the franchise immediately.
However, the Tridents have found able replacements in Ahmed Shehzad from Pakistan and Marchant de Lange a fellow South African to continue their battle in the ongoing tournament.
The Pakistan batsman is expected to be available for selection for their next game against the Tallawahs on Wednesday while De Lange will be available for the next game against the St Lucia Zouks.
24-year old Ahmed Shehzad has already played in the CPL for the Jamaica Tallawahs and will take De Villiers place in the squad while Merchant de Lange was also a part of the CPL where he plays for the Guyana Amazon Warriors.
Dale Steyn another South African star who plays for the Jamaica Tallawahs will also be on his way to his country but was given a chance to complete his team’s final two home games against Trinbago Knight Riders (Monday) and the Tridents (Wednesday) before he can meet his national team-mates back in South Africa.
He will be replaced by Dane Paterson another South African. Paterson has not played in the CPLT20 before and will make his debut if he gets to play for the Tallawahs this season.
At the age of 27, Paterson has 245-first class wickets. He has an economy rate of 6.79 in 32 games in the domestic arena in his country and has picked 33 wickets so far. He will be excited to start working with the Tallawahs squad in the Caribbean.