India vs West Indies: Kemar Roach, Nkrumah Bonner recalled to ODI squad, Kieron Pollard to lead

By ANI

ST JOHN’S: The Cricket West Indies (CWI) Selection Panel has announced the senior men’s squad for the upcoming three-match ODI series against India.

The West Indies will visit the sub-continent from February 6 to 20, where they will also play three T20Is.

The ODIs will be played at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on February 6, 9, and 11. These matches form part of the ICC ODI Super League and the West Indies will have the opportunity to win points to be one of the top seven teams, excluding hosts India, to gain automatic qualification for the 2023 ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup.

The T20Is will be played at Eden Gardens in Kolkata on February 16, 18, and 20, with the squad expected to be announced on Friday.

Kemar Roach, the experienced fast bowler; Nkrumah Bonner, the middle-order batter, and Brandon King, the opening batter, have been recalled to the squad. Roach has so far played 92 ODIs with 124 wickets. Bonner made his ODI debut in Bangladesh a year ago and has so far played three matches, while King has so far played four matches in this format.

Lead Selector, Desmond Haynes, said: “Kemar Roach is one of our leading fast bowlers and we believe we need bowlers upfront to get an early wicket, and Kemar, with an economy rate of five, is certainly good enough to play. Over the last few years, Nkrumah Bonner’s cricket has come on leaps and bounds and we believe he should be given an opportunity to play in the 50-over format.”

Haynes added: “We want to have competition for places. We want to reach a stage where we have a lot of players fighting for positions. We want to broaden the pool of players we have to choose from. The team we have selected is a very good side and we are looking at this tour as part of the preparations for the World Cup in India in 2023.”

West Indies Squad: Kieron Pollard (c), Kemar Roach, Nkrumah Bonner, Brandon King, Fabien Allen, Darren Bravo, Shamarh Brooks, Jason Holder, Shai Hope, Akeal Hosein, Alzarri Joseph, Nicholas Pooran, Romario Shephard, Odean Smith, Hayden Walsh Jr.