West Indies have rested some big names like all-rounders Andre Russell and Jason Holder alongside star seamer Alzarri Joseph for the three-match T20Is against South Africa at home, starting August 24.
While opener Brandon King also misses out on the cut, as he continues to recover from the side strain he suffered during the T20 World Cup in June, Shimron Hetmyer, who didn’t play a single game in the tournament, retained his place.
Meanwhile, Rovman Powell continues to lead the star-studded T20I side, with Shai Hope tipped to open alongside Johnson Charles, while rookie Alick Athanaze is a backup. The biggest plus, however, is to have superstar batters Nicholas Pooran and Hetmyer in the middle order, with Romario Shepherd there to take care of lower-order duties.
Though Shamar Joseph retains his place following a superb show in the Test series, CWC picked four spinners in Gudakesh Motie, Akeal Hosein, Chase and returning Fabian Allen.
West Indies squad for SA T20Is –
Rovman Powell (captain), Roston Chase (vice-captain), Alick Athanaze, Fabian Allen, Johnson Charles, Matthew Forde, Shimron Hetmyer, Shai Hope, Akeal Hosein, Shamar Joseph, Obed McCoy, Gudakesh Motie, Nicholas Pooran, Sherfane Rutherford and Romario Shepherd
The three-match series is scheduled for 23 – 27 August 2024 in Trinidad.
The West Indies Men’s T20 team has won four of its last five series and just missed out on a semi-final place at the recently concluded ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, which was hosted in the Caribbean.
In the ICC Men’s T20I Team Rankings, West Indies is number four, and South Africa is number five.