St. John’s (Antigua), Jan 27: Kemar Roach, Nkrumah Bonner and Brandon King on Thursday earned recalls to West Indies’ ODI squad for the upcoming three-match series against India, starting February 6. The experienced fast bowler Roach has picked 124 wickets in 92 ODIs. The middle-order batter Bonner, who made his ODI debut against Bangladesh a year ago, has so far played three matches, while the opening batter King has featured in four matches. The ODIs will be played at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on February 6, 9 and 11.
These matches form part of the ICC ODI Super League and the West Indies will have the opportunity to win points to be one of the top seven teams, excluding hosts India, to gain automatic qualification for the 2023 ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup. The West Indies will visit the sub-continent from February 6 to 20, where they will also play three T20 Internationals.
The T20Is will be played at Eden Gardens in Kolkata on February 16, 18 and 20, with the squad expected to be announced on January 28. “Kemar Roach is one of our leading fast bowlers and we believe we need bowlers upfront to get early wicket, and Kemar, with an economy rate of five, is certainly good enough to play,” said Desmond Haynes, Lead Selector of Cricket West Indies.
“Over the last few years, Nkrumah Bonner’s cricket has come on leaps and bounds and we believe he should be given an opportunity to play in the 50-over format. “We want to have competition for places. We want to reach a stage where we have a lot of players fighting for positions. We want to broaden the pool of players we have to choose from. “The team we have selected is a very good side and we are looking at this tour as part of the preparations for the World Cup in India in 2023,” added Haynes. West Indies ODI squad: Kieron Pollard (c), Fabian Allen, Nkrumah Bonner, Darren Bravo, Shamarh Brooks, Jason Holder, Shai Hope, Akeal Hosein, Alzarri Joseph, Brandon King, Nicholas Pooran, Kemar Roach, Romario Shepherd, Odean Smith, Hayden Walsh Jr.
