Antigua: Akeem Auguste, Jewel Andrew and Shamar Springer have been named in the West Indies squad for the three-match T20I series against Sri Lanka in Jamaica.
The Caribbean team has made several changes to the squad that featured in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup earlier this year. Johnson Charles, Quentin Sampson and Jayden Seals are out, while paceman Alsari Joseph is not considered part of workload management plans.
Twenty-two-year-old Auguste has already represented the West Indies in nine T20 Internationals, while 19-year-old Andrew has made five appearances in the format. All-rounder Springer, meanwhile, returned to the squad after earlier playing six T20Is for the regional side.
Fast bowler Shamar Joseph, who was recently pulled out of the ODI squad due to personal reasons, is expected to rejoin the team ahead of the T20I series.
West Indies head coach Darren Sammy believes the series presents an important opportunity for his team to build on the positives from their T20 World Cup campaign.
“This series is very important for us because it is our first series after the World Cup in India, where the team played with passion, fight and West Indies have built cricket,” Sammy said.
“Our focus now is to build on those foundations, continue to grow as a team and make our fans proud with the way we competed against Sri Lanka,” he added.
The T20I series will be played at Sabina Park on June 11, 13 and 14, before both teams travel to Antigua for a two-match Test series. Sri Lanka head into the T20Is after winning the ODI series 1-0, with the last two matches abandoned due to rain.
West Indies T20I Squad: Shai Hope (catch), Jewell Andrew, Akeem Auguste, Roston Chase, Matthew Forte, Shimron Hetmyer, Jason Holder, Akeel Hosin, Shamar Joseph, Brandon King, Gudakesh Moti, Rovman Powell, Sherfan Rutherford, Romario Shepherd and Shamar Spring.