New Delhi, January 26 (). West Indies on Monday announced its 15-member squad for the T20 World Cup 2026. Shai Hope was given command of the team, but Evin Lewis has been ignored. This tournament is to be played from 7th February hosted by India and Sri Lanka.
Left-handed opening batsman Evin Lewis has been dropped from the team, whose performance against Afghanistan was disappointing. Along with him, fast bowler Alzarri Joseph has also been ruled out of the Mahakumbh of T20 format due to injury.
The 15-member squad includes 11 players from the team playing in the 2024 domestic World Cup. This T20 World Cup team will also participate in the upcoming T20 series against South Africa. This series of three matches will be played between 27-31 January.
Two-time champions West Indies have been placed in Group C along with Scotland, England, Nepal and Italy. The Caribbean team will start its campaign against Scotland at Eden Gardens, Kolkata on 7 February, after which the team will face England on 11 February, Nepal on 15 February and Italy on 19 February.
Batsmen Johnson Charles, Shimron Hetmyer and Brandon King are the only top-order players included in the team from the UAE series. Not many changes have been made in the fast bowling unit of West Indies.
Explosive batsman Quinton Sampson has got a place in the World Cup team. The 25-year-old Sampson has been given the chance based on his performance in the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) 2025, where he scored 241 runs in 9 innings for the Guyana Amazon Warriors. However, Sampson could score only 35 runs in three matches of the T20 series against Afghanistan.
All-rounders Roston Chase, Akil Hussain and Sherfane Rutherford have returned to the team after being out of the series against Afghanistan. Former captains Jason Holder and Rovman Powell have been recalled to the team along with Romario Shepherd.
Fast bowler Shamar Joseph has returned to the team despite missing the Test tour of India and the ODI series against Bangladesh due to injuries, who will lead the fast bowling attack along with Holder, Matthew Forde and Jayden Seales. On the other hand, Hussain, Chase and Gudakesh Moti will lead the spin.
West Indies team: Shai Hope (captain), Shimron Hetmyer, Johnson Charles, Roston Chase, Matthew Ford, Jason Holder, Akil Hussain, Shamar Joseph, Brandon King, Gudakesh Moti, Rovman Powell, Sherfane Rutherford, Quinton Sampson, Jayden Seales and Romario Shepherd.
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