West Indies named a strong squad for the upcoming 5-match T20I series against England starting on 12th December and finishing on 21st. The first T20I match will be played at Bridgetown, Barbados on 12th December while the second and third encounters will take place in Grenada on 14th and 16th December respectively.
The fourth match will take place at Brian Lara Stadium, Trinidad on the 19th while the fifth T20I match will be at the same venue on the 21st of December. It promises to be an exciting series as the West Indies would be looking to gather some match practice ahead of the 2024 World T20 that will take place in the West Indies and USA.
The biggest news would be the return of star all-rounder Andre Russell in the shortest format. He last played in the T20 World Cup 2021 played in the United Arab Emirates. Rovman Powell would lead the side.
It looks like a strong unit with top-quality batters and all-rounders in the team. Nicolas Pooran and Jason Holder did not take part in the ODI series against England were included in the 5-match T20I series. Gudakesh Motie picking up 4 wickets in 3 ODI matches has been included in the squad.
“This will be the final home T20I series for the West Indies in 2023, as they prepare to be one of the two host teams for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in the West Indies and USA in June 2024,” Haynes said as quoted by ESPNcricinfo.
Under the captaincy of Rovman Powell, the West Indies team defeated India by 3-2 in the home T20I series. The return of Andre Russell would bolster the team and hope to prove his worth after missing the T20 World Cup last year.
Andre Russell’s performance in T20Is
Andre Russell played a total of 67 T20I matches (56 innings) with 39 wickets at an economy of 9.18 runs per over including best figures of 3 for 43. He scored so far 741 runs from 67 matches (57 innings) with best score of 51 at a strike rate of 156.00.
He played his last T20I match against Australia in the Super 12 stage of the T20 World Cup 2021. He made a quickfire 18 off 7 deliveries and helped West Indies post a decent total.
Russell was a part of the winning team that won the 2016 World T20 played in India. He has shown the ability to put the pressure on opponent bowlers with big shots and would be looking for proving his worth in front of huge crowds at home.
Here we look at the West Indies T20I squad to face EnglandÂ
Shai Hope, Brandon King, Kyle Mayers, Roston Chase, Rovman Powell (C), Akeal Hossein, Shimron Hetymer, Jason Holder, Alazzari Jospeh, Gudakesh Motie, Nicolas Pooran, Andre Russell, Sherfane Rutherford, Romario Shepherd, Matthew Forde.
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