Shai Hope, wicketkeeper-batsman and captain of the ODI team and Shimron Hetmyer, as well as Oshane Thomas was recalled as the Cricket West Indies (CWI) Senior Men’s Selection Panel announced a provisional squad for the five-game T20I series against India, which begins on Thursday (March 3 August) begins.
From West Indies’ last T20I squad, which won 2-1 in South Africa in March, the selectors have left out Shamarh Brooks, Raymon Reifer, Yannic Cariah and Sheldon Cottrell.
Lead selector Desmond Haynes said in a press conference that Cariah and Cottrell were in the selectors’ conversations, but they chose the “express pace” of Thomas and were content with just two spinners in the squad: Roston Chase and Akeal Hosein.
Haynes also request the ground staff in the Caribbean to prepare pitches with more purchase for the fast bowlers going forward in T20Is, so that West Indies will have an advantage over certain teams at the T20 World Cup.
Hetmyer last played a T20I in August last year and returned to the ODI fold only recently, after being left out of the ODI World Cup qualifier in June.
He had earlier been left out of the white-ball set-up because of form and fitness issues. Hetmyer recently played two T20s for runners-up Seattle Orcas in the inaugural Major League Cricket MLC in the USA.
Hope, the West Indies ODI captain and star batter in the format, also returned after over a year, having last played a T20I in February 2022 in India.
He has played only 19 T20Is, striking at 121.11 with a poor average of 17.88. His last T20 was in the previous PSL for winners Lahore Qalandars.
Among the returnees, Thomas’ absence was the longest. He had been out of the T20I set-up since December 2021.
On picking just two spin options in the squad, Haynes said, “We didn’t go for a legbreak-googly bowler for these games. We’re still trying to find the right combination because we would like to know that we have got a T20 team that can be very competitive. Playing at home in the T20 World Cup, we’d like to be very, very competitive. Akeal Hosein has been very good for us in the T20 games and Roston Chase has also done well, and we thought we’d go for the offspin option this time and also with Akeal.
“In that way, we are quite happy, but in these T20s, we decided to look for a combination where we would like to get a little bit of pace. Apart from Alzarri [Joseph], we don’t really have express pace, so we thought let Oshane have a look-in as well. We’ve got Obed [McCoy] who can swing the new ball and bowl a lot of varieties.”
These five T20Is against India will be played across the Caribbean and the USA. After the series starts in Tarouba on August 3, Providence will host two games on August 6 and 8 before the teams fly to Lauderhill in Florida for the last two games on August 12 and 13.
West Indies squad for T20I series against India: Rovman Powell (capt), Kyle Mayers (vice-capt), Johnson Charles, Roston Chase, Shimron Hetmyer, Jason Holder, Shai Hope, Akeal Hosein, Alzarri Joseph, Brandon King, Obed McCoy, Nicholas Pooran, Romario Shepherd, Odean Smith, Oshane Thomas