West Indies have announced a 15-member squad for the upcoming ODI series against Netherlands and Pakistan, which will mark the beginning of Nicholas Pooran’s reign as white-ball captain.
Shimron Hetmyer, All-rounder Jason Holder has been rested from the two tours to manage his workload, while Evin Lewis also misses out as he was unable to meet the CWI’s fitness criteria.
Meanwhile, Shimron Hetmyer was West Indies’ leading run-maker at the T20 World Cup last year, had not played in an international since the T20 World Cup last year, but he is expected to feature in the West Indies’ upcoming tour.
Hetmeyer has missed all West Indies tournaments in the last six months, either for personal reasons and due to fitness issue.
He has returned to the IPL for the final round of the season after leaving the tournament bubble for his son’s birth, but was unable to get him on their upcoming tours to the Netherlands and Pakistan to spend time with his family.
“We got the email from Hetty saying that he is unavailable for selection because of the birth of his child,” Desmond Haynes said earlier this month when the squad for the upcoming tours was announced.
“That is all the information we received so we acted that way; we had considered him for selection and the note stated he was unavailable.” said West Indies’ lead selector
West Indies assistant coach Roddy Estwick on Friday said that Shimron Hetmyer “will be missed” during his team’s twin tours of the Netherlands and Pakistan after the left-hander’s excellent IPL 2022 season for Rajasthan Royals.
“If someone like Hetmyer’s not playing, you’re obviously going to miss his talent,” Estwick said.
“He’s having an outstanding season for Rajasthan Royals. He’s doing very, very well. He’s playing well.
“He will be missed, but at the end of the day, he’s not there. He’s asked not to be selected for this tour so we have to get on without him and we hope that he will make himself available for future tours.” West Indies assistant coach added
Before their game against Chennai Super Kings on Friday, Hetmyer has scored 291 runs in 11 matches at an average of 72.50 and strike rate of 166.28, he has remained unbeaten on seven occasions