St. John’s (Antigua) : Cricket West Indies (CWI) on Friday announced the Kraigg Brathwaite led 18-member squad for the preparation camp, set to be held at Coolidge Cricket Ground, ahead of Tests against India.
CWI added that the team will travel to Dominica for the first Test, starting from July 12.
Apart from Brathwaite, Jermaine Blackwood, Nkrumah Bonner, Tagenarine Chanderpaul, Rahkeem Cornwall, Joshua Da Silva, Shannon Gabriel, Raymon Reifer, Kemar Roach and Jayden Seales have too been named for the preparatory camp.
The 21-year old Seales last played for West Indies in the first Test against Australia at the Perth Stadium last December. He then underwent a knee surgery in the same month and has been under a rehabilitation programme to get back to competitive cricket.
Recently, some videos of him practising his bowling came on social media, indicating that he could return to Test cricket through Tests against India.
With the likes of Jason Holder, Kyle Mayers, Alzarri Joseph participating in the Men’s ODI World Cup Qualifiers in Zimbabwe, uncapped players like Kirk McKenzie, Kavem Hodge, Alick Athanaze Akeem Jordan, and Jair McAllister are the new names in the preparatory camp for the Test series.
Athanaze and McKenzie toured Bangladesh last month for three red-ball games as members of West Indies ‘A’ team, with the duo hitting two fifties each. Earlier this month, Athanaze raced to his half-century in only 26 balls, the joint-fastest fifty by a batter on ODI debut against the UAE at Sharjah, while making 65 off 45 balls.
India’s tour of West Indies starts with two Tests, which will kickstart the 2023-2025 ICC World Test Championship cycle. Windsor Park in Dominica will host the first Test match from July 12-16, followed by the second Test to be played from July 20-24 at Queen’s Park Oval in Trinidad.
The second Test will also mark the 100th Test match played between India and West Indies.
India last toured West Indies for an all-format tour in 2019, winning series in all formats. They also made a white-ball only trip last year, emerging victorious in both series.
West Indies preparatory squad: Kraigg Brathwaite (captain), Alick Athanaze, Jermaine Blackwood, Nkrumah Bonner, Tagenarine Chanderpaul, Rahkeem Cornwall, Joshua Da Silva, Shannon Gabriel, Kavem Hodge, Akeem Jordan, Jair McAllister, Kirk McKenzie, Marquino Mindley, Anderson Phillip, Raymon Reifer, Kemar Roach, Jayden Seales, Jomel Warrican.
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