West Indies have announced their white-ball squads for the upcoming three-match ODI and T20I series against Australia.
While the ODI squad is devoid of some key players because of their commitment to T20 leagues around the world, the T20I squad is as formidable as it could potentially be.
Missing from the last ODI squad that won the series against England in December, are Brandon King and Sherfane Rutherford, who have both been given the opportunity to take up T20 franchise contracts during this period, along with Shimron Hetmyer and Yannic Cariah who also both miss out on selection.
Arguably the biggest surprise is the non-selection of Shimron Hetmyer, who was not a part of the last three T20Is against England during a five-match series at home recently.
The other noteworthy move is the inclusion of Jason Holder and Kyle Mayers in the T20I squad. The duo wasn’t included in the Test squad after it made itself unavailable for selection.
Mayers and Holder alongside Brandon King and Sherfane Rutherford will be playing franchise cricket before joining the rest of the squad for the T20I series starting February 9 at the Bellerive Oval in Hobart.
While Hetmyer’s T20 numbers are good enough, his T20I record doesn’t make for a good reading. The southpaw has managed to aggregate 3696 runs in 190 T20 games at a strike rate of 133.09, he has merely accumulated 902 runs in 57 T20Is at a strike rate of 118.21.
The 2016 U19 World Cup-winning captain had an underwhelming run during the ODI series against England at home and failed to turn his fortunes around in the first two T20Is against the same opposition.
WEST INDIES ODI SQUAD
1. Shai Hope (Captain)
2. Alzarri Joseph (Vice-Captain)
3. Alick Athanaze
4. Teddy Bishop
5. Keacy Carty
6. Roston Chase
7. Matthew Forde
8. Justin Greaves
9. Kavem Hodge
10. Tevin Imlach
11. Gudakesh Motie
12. Kjorn Ottley
13. Romario Shepherd
14. Oshane Thomas
15. Hayden Walsh Jr.
WEST INDIES T20I SQUAD
1. Rovman Powell (Captain)
2. Shai Hope (Vice-Captain)
3. Johnson Charles
4. Roston Chase
5. Jason Holder
6. Akeal Hosein
7. Alzarri Joseph
8. Brandon King
9. Kyle Mayers
10. Gudakesh Motie
11. Nicholas Pooran
12. Andre Russell
13. Sherfane Rutherford
14. Romario Shepherd
15. Oshane Thomas