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Cricket West Indies (CWI), on Tuesday, announced their men’s Test squad for their upcoming tour of Zimbabwe, set to begin on January 28 with a warm-up fixture.
West Indies have recalled their experienced speedster Shannon Gabriel after Jayden Seales was ruled out due to a knee injury. Further, the CWI have also strengthened their red-ball outfit with the addition of two left-arm spinners in Gudakesh Motie and Jomel Warrican.
Like Seales, Anderson Phillip was also unavailable due to an injury, while Shamarh Brooks has been left out of the squad.
Notably, Gabriel, who carries an experience of 56 games in the longest format, last played a Test match against Sri Lanka in November 2021. In November last year, he was the joint-leading wicket-taker in the Super50 Cup for the Trinidad and Tobago Red Force.
“We looked at the conditions we anticipate playing in and have included two left-arm spinners who didn’t go to Australia in Motie and Warrican. With our fast bowlers, Seales has done extremely well for us since he started back in 2021, but with him unavailable, we have decided that Gabriel would be best able to fill that role. He (Gabriel) is an experienced bowler who has been at the international level for over 10 years and has knowledge of the conditions in Zimbabwe when we won there in 2017,” said lead selector Desmond Haynes in an official media release.
The Kraigg Brathwaite-led side will first play a 4-day warm-up game at Bulawayo Athletic Club before meeting Zimbabwe in the two-match Test series, starting February 04 at Queens Sports Club.
West Indies’ Squad for Zimbabwe Tests:
Kraigg Brathwaite (captain), Jermaine Blackwood (vice-captain), Nkrumah Bonner, Tagnarine Chanderpaul, Roston Chase, Joshua Da Silva, Shannon Gabriel, Jason Holder, Alzarri Joseph, Kyle Mayers, Gudakesh Motie, Raymon Reifer, Kemar Roach, Devon Thomas, Jomel Warrican
