Kemar Roach has been recalled to the West Indies One-Day International (ODI) cricket squad for the upcoming three-match series against India.
Middle-order batsman Nkrumah Bonner and opener Brandon King, have also been included in the unit for the tour from February 6 to 20.
The 33-year-old Roach, who has played 92 ODIs, taking 124 wickets at an average of 30.34, is set to feature in that format of the game for the first time since 2019.
“Kemar Roach is one of our leading fast bowlers and we believe we need bowlers upfront to get early wickets, and Kemar, with an economy rate of five, is certainly good enough to play. 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,” said Cricket West Indies lead selector, the Most Honourable Dr Desmond Haynes.
“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,” Haynes added.
Bonner made his ODI debut in Bangladesh last year and has so far played three matches, while King has four in this format.
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 three T20Is will be played at Eden Gardens in Kolkata on February 16, 18 and 20, with the team expected to be announced on Friday.
FULL SQUAD: Kieron Pollard (Captain), 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. (AGB)
