A brief history of the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) – Previous Winners, Runners Up, Top Scorers, and More!
The Caribbean Premier League (CPL) is a Twenty20 International (T20) cricket tournament played annually in the Caribbean. It attracts some of the best cricketers from the West Indies and other countries like Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Australia, South Africa, and India.
In 2013, Cricket West Indies founded CPL as the premier Caribbean T20 cricket tournament of the Caribbean. Earlier, Caribbean Twenty20 was the main T20 competition there, but CPL replaced it. The West Indies board also sealed an agreement with entrepreneur Ajmal Khan for CPL’s funding.
Ajmal Khan is a famous businessman in the Caribbean, having founded several enterprises, including Verus International, a Barbados-based merchant bank.
Interestingly, Hero MotoCorp Ltd, a leading motorcycle and scooter manufacturer based in New Delhi, India, is the main sponsor of CPL. That’s why the tournament is also called Hero CPL.
Six teams, each representing a country from the West Indies, participate in CPL – Guyana Amazon Warriors, Jamaica Tallawahs, St Lucia Zouks, Barbados Tridents, Trinbago Knight Riders, and St Kitts & Nevis Patriots.
The idea of having country-based teams helps in marketing cricket in those territories. Additionally, it gives an opportunity to young players to participate in an international-level league to hone their skills and become better cricketers.
Trinbago Knight Riders was earlier called Trinidad and Tobago Red Steel. They had a name change after Red Chillies Entertainment, the parent company of Kolkata Knight Riders, an Indian Premier League (IPL) team, bought a stake in Trinidad and Tobago Red Steel in 2015.
In the initial seasons of CPL, Antigua Hawksbills, a franchise team from Antigua and Barbuda, used to participate; however, its performance was never up to the mark even when legendary Antiguan cricketer, Sir Vivian Richards, had coached it in 2013.
Antigua Hawksbills stood fifth in CPL 2013 and finished last in CPL 2014. Later, in 2015, many players from the team chose to play for a new franchise, St Kitts & Nevis Patriots, and Antigua Hawksbills decided not to participate in CPL.
Even though CPL is still a relatively young cricket league, it has provided a lot of action and excitement not only for cricket lovers, but also for sports punters. Read on as we discuss interesting facts about CPL, winners list, top teams, best batsmen and bowlers.
Interesting facts about the best performing teams, top scorers, & wicket-takers of the Caribbean Premier League (CPL)
By beating Guyana Amazon Warriors in the final, Jamaica Tallawahs had emerged as the winners of the CPL’s inaugural edition in 2013.
- The unluckiest team of the league is Guyana Amazon Warriors, which reached the final of CPL on five occasions (2013, 2014, 2016, 2018, & 2019), but never won the title. Its fans are eager to see if Guyana Amazon Warriors break the jinx in 2021.
- Trinbago Knight Riders is the most successful team, having won CPL four times, in 2015, 2017, 2018, and 2020. Other successful teams of CPL are Barbados Tridents and Jamaica Tallawahs, which have won the title two times each.
- Lendl Simmons, a cricketer from Trinidad, is the top scorer for CPL. Simmons has scored 2,436 runs to date in all editions of CPL, put together. He was the leading scorer for Guyana Amazon Warriors in 2014 by making 446 runs. In 2020, he repeated the feat by scoring 356 runs, but he had switched to Trinbago Knight Riders by then.
- Dwayne Bravo, a famous medium-pacer from the West Indies, is the leading wicket-taker for CPL. Bravo has taken 106 wickets so far in the tournament. In 2015, he was adjudged the ‘Player of the Series’ for taking 28 wickets and helping his team, Trinbago Knight Riders, win the cup. Dwayne Bravo continued his excellent run in CPL 2016 as well by taking 21 wickets.
- There’s another Bravo, too, who has played superbly well in CPL. Darren Bravo, one of the leading scorers for Trinbago Knight Riders, is the younger half-brother of Dwayne Bravo. By hitting 1,726 runs, he has played a vital role in the success of the Trinbago Knight Riders.
- Chris Gayle and Andre Russell are the most successful batsman and bowler for Jamaica Tallawahs, respectively. Gayle scored 1,695 runs for the team between 2013 and 2019, while Russel has taken 58 wickets to date.
- Several international cricketers have performed well in CPL editions. Colin Munro, a New Zealand cricketer, was CPL’s Player of the Series in 2018 for hammering 567 runs and helping Trinbago Knight Riders win the cup.
- Shoaib Malik from Pakistan scored most runs in CPL 2013 when he made 272 for his team, Barbados Tridents. Likewise, Fawad Ahmed, a Pakistani-Australian cricketer, took most wickets in CPL’s 2018 edition when he took 22 scalps for Trinbago Knight Riders.
Year-wise CPL winners list, runners up, and leading players
| Year | Winners | Runners Up | Most runs | Most wickets |
| 2013 | Jamaica Tallawahs | Guyana Amazon Warriors | Shoaib Malik (Barbados Tridents) (272 runs) | Krishmar Santokie (Guyana Amazon Warriors) (16 wickets) |
| 2014 | Barbados Tridents | Guyana Amazon Warriors | Lendl Simmons (Guyana Amazon Warriors) (446 runs) | Ravi Rampaul (Barbados Tridents) (18 wickets) |
| 2015 | Trinidad and Tobago Red Steel | Barbados Tridents | Chris Gayle (Jamaica Tallawahs) (430 runs) | Dwayne Bravo (Trinidad and Tobago Red Steel) (28 wickets) |
| 2016 | Jamaica Tallawahs | Guyana Amazon Warriors | Chris Lynn (Guyana Amazon Warriors) (454 runs) | Dwayne Bravo (Trinbago Knight Riders) (21 wickets) |
| 2017 | Trinbago Knight Riders | St Kitts & Nevis Patriots | Chadwick Walton (Guyana Amazon Warriors) (458 runs) | Sohail Tanvir (Guyana Amazon Warriors) (17 wickets) |
| 2018 | Trinbago Knight Riders | Guyana Amazon Warriors | Colin Munro (Trinbago Knight Riders) (567 runs) | Fawad Ahmed (Trinbago Knight Riders) (22 wickets) |
| 2019 | Barbados Tridents | Guyana Amazon Warriors | Brandon King (Guyana Amazon Warriors) (496 runs) | Hayden Walsh Jr. (Barbados Tridents) (22 wickets) |
| 2020 | Trinbago Knight Riders | St Lucia Zouks | Lendl Simmons (Trinbago Knight Riders) (356 runs) | Scott Kuggeleijn (St Lucia Zouks) (17 wickets) |
Player of the Series of Caribbean Premier League (CPL) for various seasons
| Year | Player of the series |
| 2013 | Krishmar Santokie (Guyana Amazon Warriors) |
| 2014 | Lendl Simmons (Guyana Amazon Warriors) |
| 2015 | Dwayne Bravo (Trinidad and Tobago Red Steel) |
| 2016 | Andre Russell (Jamaica Tallawahs) |
| 2017 | Chadwick Walton (Guyana Amazon Warriors) |
| 2018 | Colin Munro (Trinbago Knight Riders) |
| 2019 | Hayden Walsh Jr. (Barbados Tridents) |
| 2020 | Kieron Pollard (Trinbago Knight Riders) |
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