Windies are getting ready for the final T20I of the three-match away T20I series against the hosts India that will be played on Wednesday (11th December) at Wankhede Stadium (Mumbai). A day ahead of this series decider, Windies head coach Phil Simmons has revealed the present fitness status of Fabian Allen along with his availability for the upcoming match.
Windies are the only side who have won more than one ICC World T20 trophy as they have won it twice (2012 and 2016). Moreover, they will feature in the next ICC Men’s T20 World Cup (2020) as the defending champions. However, the Caribbean side is currently not in the form in this shortest format. Windies have the worst T20I experiences in the running year as they have won only twice out of 11 T20Is in 2019 while they have suffered nine T20I defeats this year.
After getting behind in the ongoing T20I series, Windies players performed remarkably in the last T20I at Thiruvananthapuram where their victory has kept alive them in this series. While they restricted the hosts to 170/7 (20 overs), they chased down the target n 18.3 overs after losing just two wickets. Earlier, in the first game of this series, the visitors failed to defend 207 runs (207/5) at Hyderabad.
As the T20I series is currently struggling by 1-1, the third and final match of this series is going to be the series decider. While Windies have tough luck in this year’s T20Is, they are desperate to finish this year with a solid victory as it will be the last T20I in 2019 for both the sides.
It is a big miss for us because Fabian Allen is an exciting player – Phil Simmons
On Tuesday (10th December), Windies head coach Phil Simmons has revealed the latest fitness status of the 24-year-old left-arm spinner Fabian Allen. While he is recovering from the knee injury, Simmons has clarified that Allen will be unavailable for the Mumbai T20I as he is still not fit enough to play the match.
Simmons claimed, “He (Allen) is still not fit enough to play tomorrow. He is coming along, he is getting there, but he is not fit enough for tomorrow. It is a big miss for us because he is an exciting player.”
Fabian Allen played his last cricket match during the T20I series opener of the three-match T20I series against Afghanistan at Lucknow in last November. Later, he missed out that remaining series due to the knee injury.
Since his international debut in October 2018, Fabian Allen has played 12 ODIs and 11 T20Is where he has picked up four and nine wickets respectively.