CPL 2019: Carlos Brathwaite to lead St Kitts and Nevis Patriots

West Indies T20 skipper Carlos Brathwaite to lead his side St Kitts and Nevis Patriots in the upcoming season of the Caribbean Premier League (CPL).

Brathwaite will captain the team after the former skipper Chris Gayle moved to the Jamaica Tallawahs.

The 31-year-old all-rounder has played 38 T20Is and amassed 291 runs for West Indies.

"I'm very excited! I think we had a good last couple of years where we challenged really well on the field, we went to the final and then we made it to the playoffs as well. So this year is about trying to continue that same thought process, that same set of a game plan and try to be as attacking as we could potentially be. Obviously, we had Chris Gayle and Evin Lewis at the top," Brathwaite said.

"Chris is now gone so we need to find a replacement for Chris, probably not in the same style that he would play, but with the results that he would normally bring to the team," he added.

Gayle was a big part of the recent success the Patriots have achieved, but he has now moved back to his native Jamaica Tallawahs. Brathwaite says he had a huge impact on the Patriots dressing room, and on him as a player.

Even without Gayle, the Patriots have a very strong and experienced squad for the 2019 season. They have six players who took part in the recently concluded ICC Men's Cricket World Cup, including Brathwaite. With the likes of Sri Lankan all-rounder Isuru Udana, Pakistani stalwart Mohammad Hafeez and West Indian talents like Lewis and Fabian Allen Patriots will be looking to make it to the knockout stages for a third successive year.

The CPL 2019 season will begin from September 4 and conclude on October 12.