CPL director of cricket Tom Moody spoke with cricket.com.au and identified some of the tournament's most dangerous players
CPL 2017: Team-by-team preview
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Barbados Tridents
2016 finish: Fifth
Squad: Kieron Pollard (c), Kane Williamson, Wahab Riaz, Raymon Reifer, Christopher Barnwell, Imran Khan, Damion Jacobs, Shoaib Malik, Dwayne Smith, Nicholas Pooran, Wayne Parnell, Ravi Rampaul, Akeal Hosein, Ryan Wiggins, Tino Best.
Head Coach: Robin Singh
Moody's players to watch
Kane Williamson: "He's such a superstar batsman, and he's shown that he's very adaptable across the formats. He can shift gears and be extremely effective in the T20 format."
Nicholas Pooran: "I like the look of this left-handed 'keeper-batsman. He's very destructive, in the Quinton de Kock mould. Only young but he can tear shreds off most attacks if he gets going."
Image Id: C456ED625E8B4ED4863A3D755758465E Image Caption: Moody likes what he sees in Nicholas Pooran // GettyGuyana Amazon Warriors
2016 finish: Runners up
Squad: Martin Guptill (c), Sohail Tanvir, Chadwick Walton, Veerasammy Permaul, Babar Azam, Roshon Primus, Gajanand Singh, Assad Fudadin, Keon Joseph, Rayad Emrit, Rashid Khan, Jason Mohammed, Steven Taylor, Steven Jacobs, S Katwaroo, Ali Khan, Shimron Hetmyer
Head Coach: Carl Hooper
Moody's player to watch
Rashid Khan: "I coached him at Sunrisers in the IPL and he is a real special talent. We were always determined to get him at the auction. He's a terrific leg-spin bowler and I'd be very surprised if we don't see him in the Big Bash."
Rayad Emrit: "A seasoned who does the hard yards for his team, bowling both in the Powerplay and at the death. A clever bowler who has delivered consistently over the last four years."
Image Id: 8B028CF4F3A3405B906342720C232944 Image Caption: Rashid Khan has had a brilliant 2017 so far // GettyJamaica Tallawahs
2016 finish: Champions
Squad: Kumar Sangakkara (c), Lendl Simmons, Shakib Al Hasan, Imad Wasim, Garey Mathurin, Jon-Russ Jaggesar, Krishmar Santokie, Jonathan Foo, Mohammad Sami, Rovman Powell, Gidron Pope, Kesrick Williams, Kennar Lewis, Andre McCarthy, Odean Smith.
Head Coach: Junior Bennett
Moody's players to watch
Kesrick Williams: "He's been around a while and had a terrific CPL last year. He's made a name for himself as a bit of a gun for hire around the world, and has a really good slower ball that batsmen find difficult to come to terms with."
Rovman Powell: "This guy can hit the ball out of the ground. He's in the Andre Russell mould with his hitting ability though doesn't bowl as quickly. He was a bit of an unknown at the start of last year's CPL and hit the tournament like a storm. He was on the bench for Kolkata so it's been a pretty steep rise to the big scene."
Image Id: 62BBD36F8D7F45DCB33D5E0A07BD01BD Image Caption: Rovman Powell was superb in the 2016 CPL // GettySt Kitts and Nevis Patriots
2016 finish: Sixth
Squad: Chris Gayle (c), Fabian Allen, Carlos Brathwaite, Jonathan Carter, Mohammad Hafeez, Brandon King, Jeremiah Louis, Sheldon Cottrell, Nikhil Dutta, Alzarri Joseph, Evin Lewis, Chris Morris, Tabraiz Shamsi, Samuel Badree, Shamarh Brooks, Mohammad Nabi, Hasan Ali, Devon Thomas.
Head Coach: Eric Simons
Moody's players to watch
Evin Lewis: "The left-handed opening bat has proven he can not only be destructive, but he can get to 100-plus in the 20 overs, which is a pretty useful asset to have at the top of your order."
Hasan Ali: "We saw what he did for Pakistan in the Champions Trophy. An excellent quick who gets good movement, takes wickets and will be a real handful."
Image Id: 33046900BB704F49BBE2F0235AC78D92 Image Caption: Hasan Ali was Pakistan's hero at the Champions trophy // GettySt Lucia Stars
2016 finish: Fourth
Squad: Darren Sammy (c), Johnson Charles, Andre Fletcher, Sunil Ambris, Rahkeem Cornwall, Kamran Akmal, Keddy Lesporis, Eddie Leie, Obed McCoy, Kyle Mayers, Timil Patel, Shane Shillingford, Shane Watson, Lasith Malinga, David Miller, Marlon Samuels, Jerome Taylor.
Head Coach: Stuart Williams.
Moody's players to watch
Shane Watson: "You'd be crazy to write off Watto off the back of one quiet IPL. He, along with a lot of other people who played with RCB, were pretty much victims of a team that was lacking in confidence. He's still very experienced and very dangerous with both bat and ball. I can see him having a good T20 tournament."
Johnson Charles: "An opening bat who can smack it around from ball one. He's played a few games for the Windies in this format, and is a strongly built right-hander who can hit the ball a long way from the get-go."
Image Id: 9194F05D99A3407DBF965B95BE237756 Image Caption: Shane Watson has returned to St Lucia this year // GettyTrinbago Knight Riders
2016 finish: Third
Squad: Dwayne Bravo (c), Hashim Amla, Kevon Cooper, Brad Hogg, Nikita Miller, Darren Bravo, Hamza Tariq, Brendon McCullum, Colin Munro, Sunil Narine, Anderson Phillip, Denesh Ramdin, Shadab Khan, Ronsford Beaton, William Perkins, Khary Pierre, Javon Searles, Mehedi Hasan.
Head Coach: Simon Helmot
Moody's players to watch
Brendon McCullum: "He's a pioneer of the T20 format and still just about as dangerous as ever. One of those batters who take you down from ball one and of course brings with him a huge reputation."
Darren Bravo: "He wasn't picked in the Test squad picked by the WICB recently but the West Indies' loss is Trinbago's gain – a class-act of a batsman and one who'll be crucial to their hopes in the middle order."
Image Id: 2E361E2BB03D41DEB52D1207962FDE1D Image Caption: Brendon McCullum is back for Trinbago this year // GettyFollow every match of the 2017 CPL LIVE on cricket.com.au