IND vs WI 2019: Shai Hope, Alzarri Joseph Dropped, Fabian Allen Returns to Windies Squad for India Series

West Indies announced a 15-member squad for their upcoming series against India. Batsman Shai Hope and speedster Alzarri Joseph have not been included in the T20I squad. The two changes have been made following the series defeat against Afghanistan.

Shai Hope, who was named as cover for Denesh Ramdin, played only one T20I in the Afghanistan series where he scored a 46-ball 52. His absence from the squad clearly shows the team management’s decision to try out different combinations before the T20 World Cup in Australia next year.

However, Shai Hope will continue to serve as the deputy of Kieron Pollard in the three-match ODI series. Nicholas Pooran, who earlier missed the three T20Is against Afghanistan because of the suspension for tampering the ball, will be available for the second T20I. On the other hand, Fabian Allen, who missed the series against Afghanistan after getting a knee injury in the first game, has returned to the side as well.

Head coach Phil Simmons said: “We have three matches in each format, so we wanted to give each squad a chance to compete against India. No disrespect to Afghanistan, but facing India will be more difficult. Our players really got the hang of things with the 3-0 series win in the ODIs against Afghanistan, and I believe we will move from strength to strength.”

“In the T20s this will be another chance for them to play and development, and again no disrespect to Afghanistan, this should be a stronger T20 country and we will look to see how they perform against India,” Simmons shared.

West Indies will take on India in three T20Is in Hyderabad, Thiruvananthapuram and Mumbai from December 6 to December 11. They will play as many ODIs in Chennai, Vizag and Cuttack from December 15 to December 22 respectively.

“The next World Cup is in Australia (2020) and the one after that is here in India (2021) so there is a lot of preparation to be done for first for Australia, so we have given the players here a chance in this series and we know we have players outside who may be coming in later on as well, so it’s good to give those here another opportunity,” Simmons concluded.

T20I squad: Kieron Pollard (Captain), Fabian Allen, Sheldon Cottrell, Shimron Hetmyer, Jason Holder, Brandon King, Evin Lewis, Keemo Paul, Nicholas Pooran, Khary Pierre, Denesh Ramdin, Sherfane Rutherford, Lendl Simmons, Hayden Walsh Jr., Kesrick Williams

ODI squad: Kieron Pollard (Captain), Shai Hope, Sunil Ambris, Roston Chase, Sheldon Cottrell, Shimron Hetmyer, Jason Holder, Alzarri Joseph, Brandon King, Evin Lewis, Keemo Paul, Khary Pierre, Nicholas Pooran, Romario Shepherd, Hayden Walsh Jr.