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Pollard to lead Windies for India ODIs/T20s; Russell ignored

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Last updated on: November 29, 2019 09:33 IST

Kieron Pollard

IMAGE: Kieron Pollard was named captain of the West Indies' ODI and T20 squads for the upcoming tour of India, beginning next month. Photograph: Peter Cziborra/Reuters

Kieron Pollard will continue to lead the West Indies in One-Day Internationals and Twenty20s on the upcoming tour of India, beginning next month, with Nicholas Pooran his deputy in the shorter format and Shai Hope taking over the role of the vice-captain in ODIs.

 

The selectors, on Thursday, decided to keep faith in the players who recently played against Afghanistan in Lucknow.

The reigning ICC World T20 champions begin their tour with the three-match T20 series, starting with the opening match in Hyderabad on December 6.

It will be followed by the second T20 in Thiruvananthapuram on December 8 and the third match in Mumbai on December 11.

The teams will then meet in three ODIs in Chennai (December 15), Vizag (December 18) and Cuttack (December 22).

All-rounder Andre Russell has been excluded from both the ODI and T20I squads. Veteran Dwayne Bravo has also been left out of the T20I squad. He had earlier hinted towards coming out of retirement and playing once again for the national team.

Opening batsman Chris Gayle had announced that he was taking a break from cricket and this was the reason behind his exclusion from the squad.

The T20 World Cup is slated to be played next year and as a result West Indies are trying out youngsters like Brandon King and Hayden Walsh Jr.

"The next World Cup is in Australia (2020) and the one after that is here in India (2021) so there is a lot of preparation to be done for first for Australia, so we have given the players here a chance in this series and we know we have players outside who may be coming in later on as well, so it's good to give those here another opportunity," Simmons said.

Coach Phil Simmons said: "We have three matches in each format, so we wanted to give each squad a chance to compete against India.

"No disrespect to Afghanistan, but facing India will be a more difficult series, especially in the ODIs. Our players really get the hang of things with the 3-0 series win and I believe we will move from strength to strength."

Talking about the T20 squad, Simmons said: "In the T20s this will be another chance for them to play and development, and again no disrespect to Afghanistan, this should be a stronger T20 country and we will look to see how they perform against India.

"The next World Cup is in Australia (2020) and the one after that is here in India (2021)… so there is a lot of preparation to be done for first for Australia, so we have given the players here a chance in this series and we know we have players outside who may be coming in later on as well, so it's good to give those here another opportunity."

West Indies squads:

ODIs: Sunil Ambris, Shai Hope, Khary Pierre, Rostan Chase, Alzarri Joseph, Kieron Pollard (captain), Sheldon Cottrell, Brandon King, Nicholas Pooran, Shimron Hetmyer, Evin Lewis, Romario Shepherd, Jason Holder, Keemo Paul, Hayden Walsh Jr.

T20s: Fabian Allen, Brandon King, Denesh Ramdin, Sheldon Cottrell, Evin Lewis, Sherfane Rutherford, Shimron Hetmyer, Khary Pierre, Lendl Simmons, Jason Holder, Kieron Pollard (captain, Hayden Walsh Jr,  Keemo Paul, Nicholas Pooran, Kesrick Williams.

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