Black Caps star Ross Taylor has confirmed his participation in the inaugural Caribbean Premier League.
Taylor has been named alongside Australian greats Ricky Ponting and Adam Gilchrist for the Twenty20 competition. Taylor will join the competition after touring England with the New Zealand team and contesting the Champions Trophy.
West Indies stars have been unveiled – Darren Sammy, Dwayne Bravo, Chris Gayle, Sunil Narine, Kieron Pollard and Marlon Samuels, and more big names are expected to be announced soon.
Taylor said he is very excited about playing in the first-ever edition of the Caribbean Premier League . He said the Caribbean is one of his favourite places to play cricket.
The tournament – scheduled to be played from July 29 to August 26 – involves six franchise countries – Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica, St Lucia, and Trinidad and Tobago.
Ninety players will be contracted, and each team will select 15 players, with a limit of four international players and at least four players under the age of 23.
Taylor has a strike rate of 119.34 from 50 T20 internationals with the Black caps.
He is involved in the Indian Premier League T20 competition. He is playing for the Pune Warriors, his fourth IPL team in as many years.