West Indies All-rounder Jason Holder and Pacer Alzarri Joseph are released early from the ODI World Cup qualifiers squad following their heartbreaking exit from the qualifiers in Zimbabwe. The two-time champions West Indies will not feature in the ODI World Cup for the first time in 48 years, since the launch of the marquee event back in 1975.
Shai Hope’s led side suffered a shocking defeat by seven wickets to Scotland in a Super Six match of the qualifier, to crash out of the race to qualify for the upcoming 50-over World Cup in India. The Men in Maroon lost a close game against the Netherlands in the Super Over before losing to the home team Zimbabwe.
Cricket West Indies selector Desmond Haynes released a statement regarding the release of the primary pacers from the team ahead of their home series against India, where both teams will being the next World Test Championship cycle starting on July 12.
“Jason and Alzarri are two of our leading bowlers in all formats. We have a full schedule for the upcoming series against India, where we begin the new ICC World Test Championship, then followed by the ODIs and the five T20Is. Therefore, we had dialogue, and it was felt the best move at this time is to have two of our leading bowlers return early from Zimbabwe,” CWI selector said.
They have still two games to play against Oman and Sri Lanka, but the games will not hold any importance as Sri Lanka has already qualified for the World Cup and neither Scotland nor the Netherlands will potentially take second place for the mega event in India.
West Indies are scheduled to play 2 Tests, 3 ODIs, and 5 T20Is against India. The Men in Maroon are yet to name the squad for the series. West Indies are going through some tough times in International Cricket as they are on the verge of missing out on the World Cup qualifier after suffering their third loss in Zimbabwe.
The Caribbean team has struggled in recent years, as they could not perform well in the bilateral series and ICC events, as the two-time T20 champions failed to qualify for the Super 12 of the 2022 T20 World Cup. The team will look to start rebuilding their team starting from the India series on home soil starting on June 12.
West Indies Initial Squad For India Tests: 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.