Nicholas Pooran Named Captain of Trinbago Knight Riders Ahead of CPL 2025
Nicholas Pooran has been appointed captain of the Trinbago Knight Riders (TKR) for the upcoming 2025 Caribbean Premier League (CPL) season. He succeeds Kieron Pollard, who led the franchise since 2019 after taking over from Dwayne Bravo.
Pooran, one of the most dynamic T20 batters in the world, expressed his gratitude and excitement at taking over the leadership role.
“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,” Pooran said. “It’s a responsibility that has been passed on from Bravo to Pollard, and now to me. I want to give it my best shot and hopefully make as many correct decisions as I can.”
The 29-year-old will be backed by a wealth of experience, with Pollard, Sunil Narine, and Andre Russell still part of the playing squad.
“For me, the most satisfying thing is that Pollard is still playing; Sunil and Andre 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,” he added.
Pooran began his CPL career with TKR — then known as Trinidad & Tobago Red Steel — in the league’s inaugural 2013 season as a 17-year-old. After stints with Barbados Royals and Guyana Amazon Warriors, he returned to TKR in 2022. He has featured in every CPL season except for 2015, when he missed out due to an accident.
In 114 CPL matches, Pooran has scored 2,447 runs at a strike rate of 152.27. He is also the current captain of MI New York in Major League Cricket (MLC) and MI Emirates in the ILT20, underlining his growing leadership credentials across global T20 leagues.
The change in captaincy comes alongside another major shift within TKR, with Dwayne Bravo stepping in as head coach following his retirement from professional cricket last year.
Pollard, who guided TKR to their fourth CPL title in 2020 — including a historic unbeaten season with 12 wins — endorsed the leadership transition, stating it was part of the franchise’s long-term planning.
“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,” Pollard said. “Pooran is homegrown, and I think this is the right opportunity for him. We’ve actually been preparing him for this over the years.”
“He understands our values and principles. He understands how we want to play cricket and the winning culture we want to create. He also commands respect from players around the world. So for me, it was an easy decision to hand over the captaincy to Pooran.”
Trinbago Knight Riders will begin their CPL 2025 campaign on August 17 against St Kitts & Nevis Patriots.