ST JOHN’S – Shai Hope will lead West Indies for the first time after Kieron Pollard was ruled out of the Tour of Pakistan, starting next week.
Hope, 28, will preside over the Windies team for the three One-day Internationals, and left-hander Nicholas Pooran, 26, will lead the Caribbean side in the three Twenty20 Internationals.
Pollard, appointed two years ago, was in charge for West Indies’ wretched campaign at the recent T20 World Cup in the United Arab Emirates, but he picked up a hamstring injury from which he has failed to recover in time for the Pakistan series, which starts on December 13.
“Pollard will undergo rehabilitation work in Trinidad, under the supervision of CWI’s chief medical officer, Dr Israel Dowlat, and will be reassessed in a few weeks ahead of the upcoming home tours against Ireland and England in January 2022,” a Cricket West Indies media release stated.
Devon Thomas, 32, who played the last of his 21 ODIs eight years ago, was added to the 50-over squad to cover for Pollard, and all-rounder Rovman Powell was called up to the T20 side.
Pooran led West Indies when they beat Australia 4-1 in the Caribbean last July, Hope will be enjoying his first taste of captaincy at the international level.
Hope is West Indies’ leading ODI batsman, averaging nearly 53 from 83 matches with 10 hundreds – the last four of which have come inside the last two years.
(CMC)
