Cricket West Indies (CWI) selection panel announced a 15-man squad for the upcoming two match Test series against Sri Lanka on Thursday. The Test matches are scheduled from November 21 to December 3 at Galle International Stadium. CWI made the announcement after West Indies lost their Super 12 fixture against Sri Lanka in the ongoing T20 World Cup.
The Test squad includes uncapped player Jermy Solozano, who is a left-handed opening batsman. Meanwhile, Kieran Powell has been dropped from the side due to his poor performance against Pakistan. It is most likely that Solozano will open the innings alongside skipper Kraigg Brathwaite as he impressed one and all in the recent Best vs Best matches at Antigua.
Roger Harper, the lead selector, in his statement said: “The Best v Best matches provided the opportunity for the players to spend some time in the middle honing their skills for this tour,” Lead selector Roger Harper said. “The aim was to simulate as much as possible, the conditions that the team will likely face in Sri Lanka, so it was good to see the batsmen spending time at the crease while putting some scores together and the bowlers looking to build pressure and create wicket-taking opportunities.”
“Jeremy played for the West Indies’ A’ Team in 2019 (against India’ A’) with success and in the Best v Best matches he displayed a sense of application, patience, and composure, while looking very comfortable against both pace and spin which encouraged the panel to invest in him at this point.”
The selectors have also included Shannon Gabriel in the pace department replacing Chemar Holder. Earlier, the 33-year-old pacer was ruled out of the Pakistan series due to hamstring injury.
Even left-arm spinner Veerasammy Permaul was included in the squad in place of fast bowler Alzarri Joseph.
West Indies squad:
Kraigg Brathwaite (c), Jermaine Blackwood (vc), Nkrumah Bonner, Roston Chase, Rahkeem Cornwall, Joshua Da Silva, Shannon Gabriel, Jason Holder, Shai Hope, Kyle Mayers, Veerasammy Permaul, Kemar Roach, Jayden Seales, Jeremy Solozano, Jomel Warrican.
