September 15 is the deadline day for announcing national squads that would be traveling to Australia for ICC T20 WorldCup 2022. West Indies have announced their 15-member squad officially today and there are some big names missing. Russel, Narine, Chris Gayle, Fabien Allen, Pollard, and Bravo brothers are not in the squad for one or another reason.
The biggest surprise in the selection came from the exclusion of the biggest franchise players in Narine and Russell. Both of the star all-rounders are a big hit in T20 with their incredible skillsets suited for the short format of the game.
The Windies side is going to be led by the southpaw batter Nicholas Pooran and voice captained by the batting all-rounder Rovman Powell.
There have been a few surprise selections in the squad as well. Yannic Carriah and Raymon Riefer are two uncapped players who are going to travel to Australia for the World Cup. The 30 years old Carriah is a wrist spinner while Riefer is the seam-bowling all-rounder.
Another surprise inclusion is the top-order basher Johnson Charles who makes his return to the national T20 side having last played in an international T20 in December of 2016. He was an integral part of the famous winning side in the 2016 T20 WC.
Evin Lewis is also back on the scene after a lengthy layoff due to injuries and fitness issues for the past year or so.
The left-arm spinner Akeal Hosein gets the nod for the spot ahead of Fabien Allen.
When inquired about Russell and Narine, the chief selector of Windies Cricket Board Desmond Haynes told the press, ” (Russell) is not performing as well as we would like to see him in the competition,…we have decided to move on and look for a player who is in form and doing well for us in the T20 format.”
About Narine, Haynes told the reporters, “Nicholas Pooran has reached out to Narine, but I am not sure he wants to play (for West Indies).”
