Co-hosts West Indies Announce Squad for T20 World Cup
The West Indies have revealed their 15-member squad for the forthcoming ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024, set to be co-hosted by the Caribbean nations and the USA.
Shamar Joseph, who made a notable impression in his Test debut series against Australia earlier this year, is set to make his T20I debut after being selected for the T20 World Cup squad.
Shimron Hetmyer returns to the squad after missing the T20I series against Australia. He has been performing well in the ongoing IPL with the Rajasthan Royals, scoring 83 runs in four innings at a strike rate of 184.44 while playing the finisher’s role.
Kyle Mayers, who was part of the squad during the Australia series, has been dropped as the Windies preferred a lower-order batter over an opener. Furthermore, pacer Oshane Thomas has been excluded from the squad.
Johnson Charles, Brandon King, and Shai Hope are anticipated to fill the top-order positions. The Windies team is packed with big hitters and all-rounders, including Nicholas Pooran, Andre Russell, Shimron Hetmyer, Powell, Jason Holder, Sherfane Rutherford, and Romario Shepherd, providing the team with a wealth of options.
Akeal Hossain and Gudakesh Motie make up the spin-bowling department, while the pace attack will be led by vice-captain Joseph with the support of Joseph.
Squad:
Rovman Powell (c), Alzarri Joseph, Johnson Charles, Roston Chase, Shimron Hetmyer, Jason Holder, Shai Hope, Akeal Hosein, Shamar Joseph, Brandon King, Gudakesh Motie, Nicholas Pooran, Andre Russell, Sherfane Rutherford, Romario Shepherd.
Director of West Indies Cricket, Desmond Haynes, commented on the significant selection decisions.
“We had a very long discussion about the batting line-up,” he said. “I want to state very clearly that our focus has always been on roles – roles that we want people to play. The situation of someone like Shamar Joseph, you really can’t question someone like him, we saw him in Australia. He ticked the boxes for us.
“It was some very close decisions, regarding the selection of Kyle Mayers and Shimron Hetmyer – but we looked at who we wanted the extra batter batting down the order.”
Grouped in Group C alongside Afghanistan, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, and Uganda, the two-time Champions will commence their campaign on 2 June against PNG in Guyana.
All teams are permitted to make changes to their squad until 25 May, after which any alteration will require approval from ICC’s Event Technical Committee.
‘Out of this World’ by Sean Paul and Kes: The official ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 anthem