West Indies team taking shape ahead of World Cup title defense
Wed, Mar 4, '20
The West Indies will be seeking to bounce back from their three-match One-Day International (ODI) series loss to Sri Lanka when the sides turn their attention to the two-match T20I series in Pallekele on Wednesday. With eight months to go to the seventh staging of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, each passing series has the WINDIES squad progressing to the version that is expected to defend their title in Australia come October. The latest addition to the squad being the dangerous Andre Russell.
Russell, who Cricket West Indies’ (CWI) Lead Selector, Roger Harper, mentioned will add “potency” to the squad, returns to the West Indies T20 side for the first time since August 2018. While the continued absence of Evin Lewis sees a return to the shortest format for wicketkeeper-batsman Shai Hope; Russell is joined by fellow Jamaicans, Oshane Thomas, and Fabian Allen, as the other returnees to this format for the visitors. However, there was no place in the squad for power-hitter Sherfane Rutherford or left-arm spinner Khary Pierre—who was also dropped from the ODI squad.
The full squad reads; Kieron Pollard (Captain), Fabian Allen, Dwayne Bravo, Sheldon Cottrell, Shimron Hetmyer, Shai Hope, Brandon King, Nicholas Pooran (wk), Rovman Powell, Andre Russell, Lendl Simmons, Oshane Thomas, Hayden Walsh Jr., Kesrick Williams.
One would hope that the West Indies men take note from their female counterparts in recognizing that form and team chemistry leading up to a tournament does, in fact, factor into the equation of results and performances. And if not yet, with ten (10) games remaining, including this series, there is still time to come to that conclusion.
Admittedly, this West Indies side has not won a T20I series, since triumphing in Bangladesh in late 2018, and are coming up against a team ranked two places above them in the ICC T20 Team Rankings—who happened to sweep the number one ranked T20I team last October—but Pollard’s men will be looking to put right their series draw with Ireland against this Lasith Malinga-led side.
Now, Sheldon Cottrell has been asked to partner three different opening bowlers in his last four T20Is. And with no Jason Holder, Khary Pierre or Romario Shepherd in this squad, the left-hander is set to have a fourth in his last five; possibly, in the form of Oshane Thomas. The West Indies turn to the 23-year-old as a potential penetrative option at the top of the innings and will be hoping that the Tallawahs’ man can replicate his CPL18 form, looking beyond his pace, to his ability to exploit the characteristics of the new-ball, having both swing and seam in his armoury.
The absence of Evin Lewis opens up an opportunity alongside Lendl Simmons at the top of the order, for which both Brandon King and Shai Hope will be vying. It could well be a toss-up between the two to see who will partner Simmons on the day. Though Hope is not known for boundary-smashing, he does have the joint fifth-fastest T20I fifty, as well as a half-century—striking at 113—when he was called in for the injured Denesh Ramdin, against Afghanistan last year. King, on the other hand, has only managed a combined fifty-three (53) runs in his five (5) T20I appearances. But this series might be the time for the West Indies to showcase their man-management skills and give the CPL19 top run-scorer a run of games to show what he can do, unpressured.
In addition to the disappointing draw, the Ireland series also robbed the Caribbean side of the opportunity to see the possible fruits a Williams/Bravo partnership could yield in the middle overs. A theft for which Pallekele will provide compensation and insurance, in the form of an opportunity for the duo to gel.
During its first five T20Is, the Pallekele International cricket stadium saw a 100% win-record for the teams batting first. Since then, however, the ground has seen a shared 50% win record for teams setting and chasing totals in the following matches.
Predicted XI: L Simmons, B King, S Hetmyer, N Pooran (wk), K Pollard (c), A Russell, DJ Bravo, Walsh Jr., K Williams, S Cottrell, O Thomas.
Series Schedule:
1st T20I Wednesday, March 4, Pallekele International Cricket Stadium, 9:30 am ECT / 8: 30 am Jamaica time.
2nd T20I Friday, March 6, Pallekele International Cricket Stadium, 9:30 am ECT / 8: 30 am Jamaica time.
