As India’s West Indies tour is scheduled to happen between July 12 and August 13, the West Indies squad for the India Test series has been announced by Cricket West Indies (CWI).
CWI announces West Indies Squad for India Test
On the upcoming West Indies tour 2023, India and West Indies are about to clash next week to play the first Test at Windsor Park in Dominica on July 12. On the lead of Kraigg Brathwaite will continue to lead the West Indies side as they meet India next week.
Two Uncapped batsmen Alick Athanaze and Kirk McKenzie had earned their maiden call-ups, and Rahkeem Cornwall, spinner had been selected on the squad. Cornwall was about to play his 10th Test match, and it will be his first appearance since November 2021.
Cornwall’s selection was due to the fact the first-choice spinner Gudakesh Motie is injured and, for his replacement Cornwall along with left-arm tweaker Jomel Warrican also included in the 13-member squad to take on India. Gudakesh Motie is currently undergoing rehabilitation.
Cornwall had an excellent record while he was in the First-class division. He had earned at least 40 wickets before his elevation to the Test team. His maiden call-up for the West Indies test team against India in 2019 is due to Roston Chase’s injury
Players like Jayden Seales and Kyle Mayers also failed to make it to the squad due to their rehabilitation.
Alick Athanaze has played 30 first-class games, scoring 1825 runs, including two centuries in his career. He had earned a Maiden call-up from the CWI for the first Test against India. On the other hand, Mckenzie have been through nine FC games, with 591 runs, including a century.
Both Athanaze and Mckenzie recently had a cumulative score of 220 and 209 runs respectively, on the unofficial test series against Bangladesh away from home.
The Selector Desmond Haynes said, “We are without Motie, who is doing his rehabilitation, and this has created an opportunity for Warrican and Cornwall in the spin bowling department.”
“They have both played at Test match level before and are capable of doing the job.”
West Indies had missed the chance on qualifying to the World Cup 2023, and Haynes thinks it is important to forget the result and focus on the World Test Championship cycle.
“Looking ahead to the series we know it will be a challenging one as we start the new cycle of the ICC Test Match Championship,” Haynes added.
“We want to build and improve and strive to move up the ladder.”
West Indies Tour 2023
India will make its much-awaited return to the field after the finals of the World Test Championship 2023. The match will kick off the West Indies Series with Two-Test match series. Despite losing the WTC, the selectors have only added young players giving a maiden Test call-up.
As the players have reached the host’s ground, they are about to start the preparations soon. With its current performance, West Indies would not be much of a challenge for Team India and they are expected to win Test and ODI with ease. But West Indies shall put some competition in the T20I series against India.
India squad for Test series
Rohit Sharma (Captain), Shubman Gill, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Virat Kohli, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Ajinkya Rahane (vice-captain), KS Bharat (wicket-keeper), Ishan Kishan (wicket-keeper), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Axar Patel, Mohd. Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Jaydev Unadkat, Navdeep Saini.
West Indies squad for the first Test
Kraigg Brathwaite (c), Jermaine Blackwood (vc), Alick Athanaze, Tagenarine Chanderpaul, Rahkeem Cornwall, Joshua Da Silva, Shannon Gabriel, Jason Holder, Alzarri Joseph, Kirk McKenzie, Raymon Reifer, Kemar Roach, Jomel Warrican.
