West Indies announce 14-man squad for Ireland ODIs

West Indies Team

Cricket West Indies (CWI) has announced a 14-man squad for the upcoming three-match ODI series against Ireland. Senior cricketer Jason Holder has been given a much-needed rest by the team management and hence the all-rounder will be missing in the first two games. He has been rested to manage his heavy workload. Apart from him, all others who faced India are named in the squad.

The senior all-rounder is a regular in the team across formats and has played non-stop cricket in the last year. The team management wants to keep him in good shape ahead of the ICC T20 World Cup in Australia in October. The current world no. 1 all-rounder will be crucial to the team in the big event Down Under.

“The decision was taken to rest Jason due to the heavy workload he has had over the last year,” said Roger Harper, West Indies’ selector. “With an important year ahead for West Indies cricket, we saw this as the best opportunity to give him a break to recharge his batteries and refresh his mind so he could be ready to perform at his best as our Test captain throughout 2020, as the number one ranked all-rounder in Test cricket and an important member of the team in the white ball formats”

Recently, West Indies lost both T20I and ODI series to India by 2-1 margin and are now preparing for a fresh challenge at home. The series against Ireland will provide the team a chance to build on the confidence they gained during their tour of India.

“This series against Ireland offers us the opportunity to build on the performances in India, build confidence as a team and for individual players. Just like the series against Afghanistan, the Ireland series is an important one for us, one we must win.”

Squad: Kieron Pollard (c), Sunil Ambris, Roston Chase, Sheldon Cottrell, Shimron Hetmyer, Shai Hope, Alzarri Joseph, Brandon King, Evin Lewis, Keemo Paul, Khary Pierre, Nicholas Pooran, Romario Shepherd, Hayden Walsh jr.