Brandon King: CPL's batting royalty is ready for the big time

This was how Ian Bishop introduced Brandon King to the wider world on commentary after the batter had smashed a 60-ball century for Guyana Amazon Warriors in front of a full house in the first CPL Qualifier in Guyana four years ago. King went on to convert it to an unbeaten 132 off 72 balls, which is still the highest individual score in CPL history. Shoaib Malik, who was King's batting partner and captain at the time, patted him on his head as part of the celebrations while Shimron Hetmyer and the rest of the Amazon Warriors' dugout gave him a standing ovation. The hundred left Johan Botha, who was the coach at the franchise at the time, in tears during a pitch-side interview.

It was Botha who had transformed King into an opening batter in the CPL although King had done the job for Jamaica in regional cricket previously. Before CPL 2019, King had never opened in T20 cricket and had fairly modest returns as a middle-order batter. After being bumped up to the top, King responded with a chart-topping 496 runs in 12 innings at an average of 55.11 and strike rate of nearly 150.

King was immediately elevated to West Indies' white-ball sides after CPL 2019, but he largely batted out of his (best) position in the middle order, which exposed him to spinners and slower bowlers. King is a pace-hitter who is adept at maximising the powerplay - traits that had made him a batting royalty in the CPL but in the West Indies middle order, he was far from it.

King was expected to open the batting for West Indies more recently in the 2022 T20 World Cup in Australia, but the return of Evin Lewis prompted the team management to separate King and Mayers, with King dropping down to the middle order. Lewis also slid down the order during that tournament, another move that shook up West Indies' balance even further.

But, in the lead-up to the 2023 ODI World Cup qualifier in Zimbabwe, there is a greater sense of stability around West Indies' batting line-up. Shai Hope has been the leading run-getter in ODI cricket since the 2019 World Cup, with 1967 runs at an average of over 50. But he has had a strike rate of only 75.45 during this period - the lowest among batters from Full-Member nations with at least 1000 runs.

With captain Hope selflessly demoting himself to No. 4 and taking on the spinners, King has moved up to the top and has been given freedom by the new team management, under Hope and Daren Sammy, to do his thing. He also works particularly well with the left-handed Mayers, who is fresh off a successful IPL stint with Lucknow Super Giants.

"His [King's] role is a lot more important now because he's now opening the batting for us, so he has his work cut out for him," Hope had said ahead of the three-match ODI against UAE in Sharjah. "I'm very sure he's capable of doing the job for us and hope he can continue in this way."

King marked his promotion to vice-captaincy with his maiden ODI hundred in the series opener in the Emirates. Rovman Powell will take back ODI vice-captaincy for the World Cup Qualifier, but King has been identified as a future leader in the Caribbean. After Jamaica Tallawahs had beaten the odds to win CPL 2022, their then captain Powell publicly said that King was part of the leadership group and now with Powell shifting to Barbados Royals, King could be among the contenders to take over as Tallawahs' captain in their quest to defend the title this year.

King has reeled off scores of 72,112 and 64 in his last three innings as an ODI opener and has also been working on improving his game against spin to become a more rounded batter. In the CPL 2022 final, he countered mystery spinner Mujeeb Ur Rahman with sweeps and earlier this month in Sharjah, he threw wristspinner Karthik Meiyappan, who has also had an IPL stint with Chennai Super Kings as a net bowler, off his lengths and lines with sweeps as well as down-the-track swings.

"As a batsman and as a professional, you're always looking to improve," King told CWI media in Sharjah. "I have conversations with other batsmen and coaches. I watch footage of myself in games and see what can be improved through discussion and put into practice. I think [when] batting [against] spin, it's important you put them under pressure, and you don't want them to settle and bowl to you. So that's something I try to apply in my game."

King also credited Hope for helping him ease back into the role of an opening batter. "Listen, Shai has been opening for West Indies for a number of years successfully," King said. "I have a lot of conversations with him about cricket and how he approaches it [the game]. I try to take what I can and put it into my game. We're obviously different types of players but nothing is better than the experience of doing it yourself. We have regular conversations, and he has given me advice on what he thinks it takes to be successful opening and I've tried to put those into my game as well."

West Indies had failed to make it out of the Qualifier to the tournament proper of the 2022 T20 World Cup, but they look in much better shape for the ODI World Cup qualifier.

"The atmosphere is good," King said. "We're building towards something, and I think this group has a lot to offer - even coming from the last series we played in South Africa. We're playing really well together and we're gelling well, and the camp is very positive. We have new staff as well that're bringing a lot of positive energy, so I'm very excited to be amongst this group."

Johnson Charles is also back in West Indies' opening mix, but King and Mayers are set to start the Qualifiers as West Indies' first-choice openers. Mayers has already graduated from the CPL to IPL. If King flourishes at the top, in a cut-throat tournament which allows just two teams to progress to the World Cup in India, it could well mark the beginning of his reign as an elite international opener.