TOP-ORDER batsman Kamil Pooran replaces opener Vikash Mohan for the mega West Indies Championship round-five clash between Red Force and Barbados, from March 12-15, at Kensington Oval, Bridgetown, Barbados. Trinidad and Tobago head coach Rayad Emrit confirmed Mohan picked up an injury just before their round-four victory over West Indies Academy and did not feature in that game, despite being picked. Pooran faced Barbados as part of the Combined Campuses and Colleges squad in the previous round, notching scores of 11 and 36. “We had to make a forced change with Vikash picking up an injury. He had some back spasms so we didn’t want to take any chances and we might have been a player short during the game. So we had a forced decision there with him,” Emrit said before their final training session on March 11. With stylish West Indies One-Day International captain Shai Hope back in the Barbados squad and set to take the gloves, Emrit believes the Royals will serve as TT’s toughest test yet in the competition. Currently, Red Force (77.8 pts) are second on the eight-team standings, with defending champions Guyana Harpy Eagles (81.2 pts) atop and Barbados (73 pts) completing the top three. TT, however, have three wins and a draw from their four matches played while the hosts have three wins and a loss. With just three rounds remaining, Emrit wants his troops to stick to the plan. “We spoke about this before the season started, trying to focus on what we need to do as a team to win matches. We have done that for the entire tournament. "Yes, Barbados are going to be our toughest challenge so far, but we’re doing a lot of good things as a team, and must focus on that. We have been trying to control what we can and that’s the goal,” Emrit said. With Hope joining Windies Test captain Kraigg Brathwaite and fellow maroon teammates Roston Chase, Jason Holder and Kemar Roach in the Bajan setup, TT face an uphill task against an experienced team. Hope replaced Kyle Mayers while Jair McAllister comes in for Chaim Holder against Red Force. TT’s batting and bowling consistency remain key to a Red Force victory. Mistakes made before, Emrit said, cannot be replicated against Barbados. “The confidence is there. It was a hard-fought victory against the Academy team. We were put in (tough) positions in both innings when we batted and the guys came out of it pretty well. But we don’t want to put ourselves in those positions against Barbados, especially with them at home.” Against West Indies Academy, the last four batsmen – Khary Pierre (42), Jayden Seales (29), Bryan Charles (23 not out) and Anderson Phillip (eight) – combined for 102 runs, alongside captain Joshua Da Silva (120), to carry TT to a solid 304 all out, after they were reeling at 91/6. Emrit enjoyed TT’s lower-order partnerships in the last game and believes solid combinations in the middle augur well for a possible Red Force triumph. “We’ll make sure our batting is consistently good. It’s just a couple areas we need to work in our batting. Trying to get big partnerships. We got in at the end of our innings in our lower order, which is good because it shows how deep our batting can go. “Our bowling has been doing excellent. To get 20 wickets in three matches is excellent. The confidence is there to get 20 wickets and we’re going to try to do that again in this game.” In other round-five matches, Guyana host Windward Islands Volcanoes at Providence Stadium, Leeward Islands Hurricanes take on Combined Campuses and Colleges at Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua while West Indies Academy face Jamaica Scorpions at Coolidge Cricket Ground in Antigua. Matches bowl off from 10 am. Red Force squad: Joshua Da Silva (captain), Cephas Cooper, Jason Mohammed, Tion Webster, Amir Jangoo, Yannic Cariah, Joshua James, Khary Pierre, Anderson Phillip, Bryan Charles, Jayden Seales, Kamil Pooran, Jyd Goolie. Barbados squad: Kraigg Brathwaite (captain), Shai Hope, Jason Holder, Leniko Boucher, Roston Chase, Jonathan Drakes, Matthew Forde, Jair McAllister, Zachary McCaskie, Kemar Roach, Ramon Simmonds, Jomel Warrican, Kevin Wickham.The post Pooran joins Red Force for ‘toughest challenge’ vs Barbados appeared first on Trinidad and Tobago Newsday. Source: https://newsday.co.tt/2025/03/11/pooran ... -barbados/