Shai Hope and Oshane Thomas return as the West Indies reveal their squad for the T20I series against India

The West Indies Cricket team has revealed their 15-member squad for the forthcoming five-match T20I series against India. Notably, Star pacer Oshane Thomas and ODI captain Shai Hope made comebacks after a long time.

The wicketkeeper batter, Shai Hope, was last seen in action on February 20, 2022, against India. The 29-year-old batter has appeared in 19 T20I matches, scoring 304 runs, including two half-centuries, whereas the fast bowler has played 20 T20I matches, picking up 21 wickets with the best bowling figures of 5/28. Oshane played his last T20I on December 16, 2021, against Pakistan.

The chief selector Desmond Haynes acknowledged that the squad was chosen with the T20 World Cup 2024 in mind. Notably, the West Indies team has been qualified to host the T20 World Cup 2024. In addition, they failed to qualify for the T20 World Cup 2022 and the upcoming ODI World Cup.

“We are looking at various plans as we try to find the right combinations. As we prepare; we are looking to build a unit which we believe can do the job when we host the global event in just under a year,” Haynes said in a CWI statement.

We have some match-winners in our line-up: Haynes

“We have some match-winners in our line-up and we will look to have the right kind of preparation. We also have other players who could come into consideration going forward, with the Caribbean Premier League starting next month, others will come into the reckoning,” he added further.

The opening match will be held at Brian Lara Stadium in Trinidad, and the second and third matches are set to take place on August 6 and 8 at Providence Stadium in Guyana, whereas the last two matches will be played in Florida. Meanwhile, India will be playing under Hardik Pandya’s captaincy.

West Indies squad for T20I:

Rovman Powell (captain), Kyle Mayers (vice-captain), Johnson Charles, Roston Chase, Shimron Hetmyer, Jason Holder, Shai Hope, Akeal Hosein, Alzarri Joseph, Brandon King, Obed McCoy, Nicholas Pooran, Romario Shepherd, Odean Smith, Oshane Thomas.