BREAKING: T&T leggie Magram replaces Qais Ahmed in GAW squad

August 6, 2020
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Trinidad and Tobago leg-spinner Kissoondath Magram have replaced Afghanistan ace leg-spinner Qais Ahmed in the Guyana Amazon Warriors squad for the 2020 Hero Caribbean Premier League.

Magram has played one First-class match for Trinidad. He made his first-class debut in January 2020 against the Leeward Islands and has since played one match for the Trinidad and Tobago Red Force.

Afghanistan internationals Qais Ahmed and Rahmanullah Gurbaz along with 15-year-old chinaman Noor Ahmed are set to miss the CPL later this month in Trinidad & Tobago. Qais, who turns 20 in less than 10 days time was all set to play alongside Imran Tahir at the Guyana Amazon Warriors, while Gurbaz (18) and Ahmed were set to feature for Barbados Tridents and St. Lucia Zouks respectively.

Cricbuzz learnt that the three players were forced to skip the tournament since they did not possess a UK transit visa that was required to board special chartered flights run by CPL from London to the Caribbean. The players were supposed to be in Trinidad on August 1 in order to fulfill their strict 14-day quarantine time.

“It is a real shame that these players couldn’t make it to the tournament, but this year more than ever it has been very difficult to secure travel. The borders into Trinidad & Tobago are closed and CPL was given special permission to fly in charter planes. The dates for these were fixed and it just wasn’t possible to get them here on time” said a CPL spokesperson confirming the development when contacted by Cricbuzz.

The news is particularly deflating for Qais who misses yet another lucrative T20 gig ($40,000) after Gloucestershire scrapped his T20 Blast contract-believed to be around $100,000-owing to the financial uncertainty surrounding the English game. Biding his time in the sidelines thanks to the presence of Rashid Khan in the national team, his mystery spin has helped in making a reputation of sorts for himself as a T20 mercenary.

The rest of the Afghanistan players set to participate in the CPL are Rashid Khan, Mohammad Nabi, Zahir Khan, Najibullah Zadran, Mujeeb-Ur-Rehman and Naveen-Ul-Haq. (Cricbuzz)