Shimron Hetmyer passes fitness test ahead of Sri Lanka Test series

West Indies batsmen Shimron Hetmyer and Roston Chase will be available for selection for the upcoming two-match Test series against Sri Lanka after passing their respective fitness tests.

Director of Cricket for West Indies Jimmy Adams provided an update on the situation and said both Shimron Hetmyer and Roston Chase passed the latest round of fitness tests. As a result, the duo are back in contention for selection.

"We had done a press conference very recently, and we had explained that there were some players that had missed the minimum fitness standard for selection, two of those players have since met that standard, that’s Roston Chase and Shimron Hetmyer, They would now be available for selection for the next selection meeting around the Test matches coming up later in March,” Adams said.

Four players, including Shimron Hetmyer and Roston Chase, were ignored for the white-ball leg of the series against Sri Lanka as they failed to meet the minimum fitness standards.

It wasn't the first instance of Shimron Hetmyer missing out on selection on grounds of fitness. Even last year, the middle-order batsman was ignored for the Sri Lanka series as he failed to reach the fitness benchmark.

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Earlier, Jimmy Adams indicated that West Indies would refrain from selecting players who didn't pass fitness standards.

"The policy asks for a minimum standard in certain aspects of fitness testing. So on the yo-yo intermittent test, that minimum standard is 40, and for a couple of years, we have had selection tied to the achievement of that minimum standard. It’s pretty simple, and all the players are aware of it. Failure to get to 40 makes them unavailable for selection." Adams added.

Shimron Hetmyer's absence in the white-ball series created controversy

Shimron Hetmyer in action in the Caribbean Premier League (CPL)

The 24-year-old batsman has been in terrific form of late, scoring a brilliant 113 in the semi-finals of the Regional Super50 competition for Guyana. However, Shimron Hetmyer couldn't lead his team to the title as Trinidad and Tobago trounced them in the final.

Despite having runs under his belt, the southpaw was ignored for the ODI and T20I series against Sri Lanka, owing to fitness issues.

West Indies take a controversial approach to player selection when it comes to fitness. Although they do allow exemptions for some players from time to time, their outlook has not always gone down well with the cricketers. Recently, 41-year-old Chris Gayle made it into the West Indies squad for the three-match T20I series against Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka will tour the West Indies for three T20Is, three ODIs and two Tests. The hosts are yet to announce their squad for the Test series.

Cricket West Indies (CWI) names the West Indies squads for the CG Insurance T20 International Series and CG Insurance One-Day International Series against Sri Lanka. #WIvSL Full Squads details⬇️ https://t.co/8F1UY2fsuI pic.twitter.com/AwxKTQBuKF

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