Antigua and Barbuda Falcons created history by winning their maiden Caribbean Premier League (CPL) title, defeating Jamaica Kingsmen by eight wickets in the 2026 final at Kensington Oval in Bridgetown on September 20. The triumph came in only the Falcons’ third season in the competition. Moeen Ali, who captained the Falcons throughout their title-winning campaign, credited lessons from his time with Chennai Super Kings (CSK) for shaping his approach to leadership.
The England all-rounder represented CSK between 2021 and 2024 and was part of their IPL-winning campaigns in 2021 and 2023 under MS Dhoni. Moeen has previously spoken about how closely he observed Dhoni’s methods during his time at CSK. According to him, Dhoni’s emphasis on squad harmony, clear roles and practical decision-making had a major influence on his own captaincy.
“I learnt a lot from MS about the importance of having lesser good players but getting everyone on the same page. CSK had a great blend of more experienced players and less youngsters. There weren’t so many meetings,” Moeen Ali said on the Super Over Podcast.
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He also highlighted Dhoni’s approach to bowling changes in T20 cricket, which changed the way he viewed captaincy.
“MS Dhoni used to say batting meetings should be done in practice. The other thing I learnt from him is you have six bowlers generally in T20s, and it’s not about whom to bowl; it’s about who not to bowl. That changed my whole mindset on captaincy,” he added.
In the CPL 2026 final, Jamaica Kingsmen posted 170 for nine after Maaz Sadaqat produced a stunning 114 off 58 balls. However, Sufyan Moqim’s outstanding spell of four for 14 restricted the Kingsmen and earned him the Player of the Match award.
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The Falcons responded with a composed chase, reaching 173 for two in just 16.4 overs. Amir Jangoo remained unbeaten on 57, while Hasan Nawaz finished on 47 not out. Shadab Khan was named Player of the Tournament after contributing 132 runs and 11 wickets, while team mentor Curtly Ambrose also played an important role during the Falcons’ historic campaign.
