Barbados Royals squad for CPL 2024: Full list of players retained and bought

Fans wave a flag of the Barbados CPL team

The list of retained and signed players before the draft for season 12 of the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) was released earlier this week. Four-time finalists and two-time champions Barbados Royals made a few changes to their squad, while retaining the core of their domestic players.

One major retention made by the Royals was that of Sri Lankan spinner Maheesh Theekshana. He was part of the squad last season, but had to pull out of the season to represent Sri Lanka at the Asian Games in Hangzhou, China. Theekshana is likely to be available to make his CPL debut this time around, with the season running from August 30 to October 7.

A couple of major overseas batters in Quinton de Kock and David Miller were re-included, after they pulled out of last year's tournament. Afghan leg-spinner Qais Ahmad was released while his compatriot, fast bowler Naveen-ul-Haq came into the squad. Experienced South Africa spinner Keshav Maharaj was also added to the squad, just a few weeks after representing sister franchise Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League, making the Royals' overseas contigent five-strong.

Franchise and West Indies national team skipper Rovman Powell was also kept hold off, rounding off an impressive core of domestic all-rounders with the experienced Jason Holder and Rahkeem Cornwall also included alongside Alick Athanaze. Emerging prospects like fast bowlers Nyeem Young and Ramon Simmonds, aged 23 and 22 respectively, will also represent the Royals in 2024. Batter Kevin Wickham and wicketkeeper Rivaldo Clarke were retained as well.

After lifting the title in 2014 and 2019, Barbados qualified for the final of the CPL in 2022, finishing first in the league stage. However, they slipped to fifth (out of six teams) in the 2023 edition and will be looking to bounce back this year.