At 35, in his 12th CPL season, Johnson Charles is reinventing himself as a 360-degree player.
When Trinbago Knight Riders' left-arm wristspinner Waqar Salamkheil darted one into his pads from left-arm around, Charles changed his grip on the bat handle, nimbly switched his stance, and whacked him over extra-cover for six.
Charles has unleashed the switch-hit against more experienced spinners like Maheesh Theekshana and Keshav Maharaj as well, throwing them off their lines. Charles has also used the reverse-sweep to combat spinners and open up new scoring zones for himself.
Before CPL 2024, according to ESPNcricinfo's logs, Charles had never played the switch-hit or reverse-sweep in the league. In this season, though, the switch-hit and the reverse-sweep have been among his most productive shots against spin along with the more traditional sweep.
In previous CPL seasons, teams used to match spin up with Charles, especially left-arm spin, to pin him down. Before this season, no other batter had played out more dots than Charles (309) against left-arm spin and no other batter had been dismissed more times by left-arm spin than Charles (20).
T20 moves at frenetic pace. It leaves players behind, especially those with limitations. Charles' was a glaring one, but he refused to be left behind. He worked behind the scenes to perfect the switch-hit, a shot he had been practicing since the PSL earlier this year. Charles wasn't confident of playing it during the T20 World Cup 2024, but has been nailing it this CPL. In this season, Charles has been dismissed by left-arm spin just once in nine innings while striking at 163.21, the highest among all batters who have faced more than 50 balls against left-arm spin this season.
"It is all about having a positive intent and taking the game to the opposition, and we did that. It [switch-hit] is something I have put into my game," Charles said after winning the Player-of-the-Match award against TKR in Tarouba. "I have been practicing since the PSL earlier in the year and it is developing well. That is the plan - to come out as champions."
Along the way, Charles has become the leading run-getter in the history of the CPL and given St Lucia Kings two cracks at the final. His captain Faf du Plessis is so impressed with the newest version of Charles that he likened his switch-hits to Kevin Pietersen's, no less.
"The way he puts spinners under pressure and he's playing the best cricket I've seen him play," du Plessis said. "And long may that continue. He's gone back in the off-season and worked on some shots. In the past, people would bowl a lot of left-arm spin at him. That switch-hit is now KP-like. Isn't it? He's playing it so well in all different areas. So, he's become really difficult to bowl to. So, it's just a great example of someone growing their game, still evolving and still getting better. So, we're very proud of that."
Charles will turn 36 next January and though a younger crop of top-order batters - including Alick Athanaze - are emerging, and Kyle Mayers is re-emerging on the West Indies T20 scene, Charles has kept himself in the mix.
Charles' immediate focus, though, will be to switch up the fortunes of Kings and lead them to their maiden CPL title.