West Indies announces squad for first two ODIs against India

The West Indies have retained their thirteen man squad that played in the series against Afghanistan to face India for the first two matches of the ODI series set to begin next week. Their last campaign against Afganistan ended with both the teams bagging one victory each.

West Indies will host India for a five-match ODI series and a T20 match scheduled to begin on 23^rd June.

To the despair of West Indies, Shannon Gabriel will not be the part of the squad announced for the first two ODIs due to an injury. He sustained a side strain during the second ODI against Afghanistan and was replaced by Kesrick Williams who made his ODI debut in the same series.

The West Indies team has been devoid of their star players like Chris Gayle, Dwayne Bravo, Darren Sammy and Andre Russell since 2015 as a conflict between these players and the West Indies Cricket Board does not seem to near the solution. This also explains no appearance of these players in any ODI for the past couple of years. Unfortunately, it also contributed majorly in the disqualification of the team from the ICC Champions Trophy 2017.

Led by Jason Holder, the West Indies team will face India for the first two matches at Queen's Park Oval in Port of Spain. It is essential for them to gear up for forthcoming series to initiate their crusade aimed at qualifying for the ICC World Cup – 2019. Their 1-1 draw against Afghanistan held them at the ninth spot, thus leading to their exclusion from the recently concluded Champions Trophy.

India, however, finished the tournament as the runners-up. They performed brilliantly throughout the tournament and will now take on the West Indies in their away tour. Not only the two teams are expected to demonstrate excellent cricket throughout the series but also generate revenue for the WICB to sustain amidst financial disputes with the players.

Squad: Jason Holder (capt), Alzarri Joseph, Ashley Nurse, Devendra Bishoo, Evin Lewis, Jason Mohammad, Jonathan Carter, Kieran Powell, Kesrick Williams, Miguel Cummins, Rovman Powell, Shai Hope (wk).