Cricket West Indies’ (CWI) Selection Panel on Wednesday announced the West Indies squad for the upcoming International Cricket Council’s (ICC) Men’s T20 World Cup.
The panel confirmed the fifteen (15) players who will represent the West Indies in the eighth ICC T20 World Cup, which will be played in Australia from October 16 to November 13.
The West Indies are the only team to have won the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup twice, in Sri Lanka in 2012 and in India in 2016. The West Indies campaign to win an unprecedented third ICC Men’s T20 World Cup title starts on October 17, when they take on Scotland in the first of three Group B fixtures played at the Bellerive Oval, in Hobart, Tasmania to qualify for the Super 12 phase of the tournament. Nicholas Pooran leads the West Indies in his first World Cup as captain, with Rovman Powell as vice-captain.
Left-hand opening batter Evin Lewis has been recalled for the first time since the 2021 ICC T20 World Cup. Two uncapped players have been selected; right-arm leg-spinner all-rounder Yannic Cariah and left-arm batting all-rounder Raymon Reifer.
The Most Honourable Dr Desmond Haynes, CWI’s Lead Selector said: “We have selected a mixture of youth and experience to represent the West Indies. In the selection process, we have been cognisant of the ongoing CPL and we have been looking at the players who have been playing very well. I said at the beginning of my tenure that I would be interested in giving players the opportunity and I think I have been consistent in doing that. I believe it is a very good team we have selected, and it is a team that will compete, given that we have to qualify from Round 1 into the Super12s.”
West Indies will face Zimbabwe on October 19 and then Ireland on October 21 with the top two teams from Group B joining the Super 12s, along with the top two teams from Group A which feature Sri Lanka, the United Arab Emirates, the Netherlands and Namibia. The top two teams from each Super12 group will advance to the semi-finals on November 9 and 10.
Before the start of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, the West Indies will meet home team Australia in a two-match bilateral T20 International (T20I) series on October 5 at the Metricon Stadium on the Gold Coast and on October 7 at the historical Gabba, in Brisbane.
FULL SQUAD: Nicholas Pooran (Captain), Rovman Powell (Vice captain), Yannic Cariah, Johnson Charles, Sheldon Cottrell, Shimron Hetmyer, Jason Holder, Akeal Hosein, Alzarri Joseph, Brandon King, Evin Lewis, Kyle Mayers, Obed McCoy, Raymond Reifer and Odean Smith.