Hours before the start of the third and the final ODI against India, West Indies have announced a 15-member squad for the five-match T20I series that will follow the ODIs. The Men in Maroon will have the services of the experienced duo of Shai Hope and Oshane Thomas who return to the team for this series starting later this month. It is pertinent to note that while Hope captains the West Indies in the ODI-format he has not played a T20I since February 2021. Thomas too is returning to the T20I squad after a long time, having last played a T20I in December 2021.
The side will be led by Rovman Powell while it boasts of a formidbale lineup, especially for this format, with players like Jason Holder, Nicholas Pooran, Shimron Hetmyer and vice-captain Kyle Mayers all capable of producing match-winning efforts on a given day. While the first T20I will be played in Trinidad on August 3, the second and the third T20Is will be played in Guyana. The last two T20Is will be played in Florida.
"The squad is selected with the next ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in mind," chief selector and West Indies great Desmond Haynes said as per an official release.
"We are looking at various plans as we try to find the right combinations. As we prepare; we are looking to build a unit which we believe can do the job when we host the global event in just under a year.
"We have some match-winners in our line-up and we will look to have the right kind of preparation, starting here in Trinidad on Thursday."
West Indies T20I squad: Rovman Powell (captain), Kyle Mayers (vice-captan), 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