Kevon Cooper - yet another TNT!

The late 1990s and early 2000 witnessed the emergence two great all-rounders in Jimmy Adams and Carl Hooper for West Indies cricket. Both were well-built and highly skilled. They batted in the middle-order providing stability and could bowl tidy wicket-taking spells. With both of them retiring it was time West Indies found a good all-rounder.

Dwayne Smith was a good choice but never really managed to cement his place in the team due to inconsistency and injuries. Then came Dwayne Bravo from Trinidad and Tobago. A shrewd cricketer who could hit the ball a long way as well as bowl medium pace with a knack for taking wickets. Electrifying on the field, this Trinidadian takes athletic catches and makes great stops. A well disguised slow delivery almost impossible to pick-up has added more valour to his armoury.

The first edition of Champions League T20 saw Trinidad and Tobago playing in it’s first international tournament. Nobody ever imagined in the wildest of their dreams that they would even make it to the next round. Some scintillating individual performances took them to the brink of glory with one man stunning the world with his all-round ability, Keiron Pollard. With his explosive power-hitting and terrific athleticism, ‘TNT’ were within touching distance of the coveted trophy.

Trinidad and Tobago in the recent past has managed to produce world-class all-rounders. The latest addition to this list- Kevon Cooper.The latest star in IPL-5 after a stupendous performance on debut. He took 4-26 in his 4 overs, regularly foxing the batsmen with his slow off-cutters. He was also sharp on the field taking a couple of catches and accounting for a run-out.

With the bat he provided the perfect finish to the inning. He scored 11 of the last 3 deliveries which included a huge six over cover and a boundary as well. He will be an integral part of the Rajasthan Royals and the perfect ingredient for T20 flavour. If RR want to win this season, no doubt Cooper has to be the X-factor.

Cooper, born in Trinidad and Tobago, comes from a sports background. His dad is an ex-cricketer and his two brothers national level footballers. Kevon who played a lot of football during childhood, found out his true love was cricket and followed in his father’s footsteps. Kevon has played in just 2 first-class matches for Trinidad and Tobago with a batting average of 28. He however has managed to play 31 T20s and has a strike rate of 120. His bowling average is a terrific 16.77 with an economy of 5.99.

Kevon made his T20 debut in the Stanford series in 2008. Cooper’s bowling action was suspicious and he was sent to the University of Western Australia to undergo tests and undertake remedial work to correct the fault in his bowling action. In August 2011, Cooper was cleared to play.

After Pollard and Bravo opted to play for their respective IPL teams, Cooper played for Trinidad and Tobago in the 2011 Champions League in India. He was snapped by the Chittagong Kings in the BPL auctions for 25,000USD where he played alongside veteran Muralitharan and fellow teammates Dwayne Bravo, Lendl Simmons and Jerome Taylor.

In the IPL auctions he was bought by RR at his base price of 50,000USD. With a scintillating debut like that, he already seems to be a good bargain and all ready to set the stage on fire.

Will he explode or not? Wait and watch!

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