Andre Russell, Nicholas Pooran, Shimron Hetmyer and Akeal Hosein have all opted out of West Indies' T20I squad for their upcoming tour of Sri Lanka for personal reasons. Opening batter Evin Lewis, who had last played a T20I during the World Cup in 2022, returned to the side for the three T20Is in Dambulla. Lewis was also picked for the ODI leg of the Sri Lanka tour.

 

Brandon King also returned to the T20I side after having recovered from the side injury that had forced him to miss chunks of the T20 World Cup earlier this year and CPL 2024. In the absence of Russell, West Indies called up his Trinbago Knight Riders team-mate Terrance Hinds and Antigua and Barbuda Falcons' Shamar Springer. This was the first international call-up for both allrounders who were impressive in CPL 2024.

 

While Hinds often fronted up to bowl at the death for TKR, Springer emerged as Falcons' leading wicket-taker in a spin-dominated CPL with 12 strikes in nine games at an economy rate of 9.39. Springer has quite a few slower variations in his repertoire, which could suit the potentially sluggish pitches in Sri Lanka.