West Indies recall Shai Hope for T20Is against India

West Indies have called back ODI captain Shai Hope to their T20 setup for the forthcoming five match series against India. Hope made his last appearance in T20 cricket for the Windies against India last year. However, the right handed batter has considerably improved his game in white-ball formats over an year or so. 

For someone who was categorised as being one-dimensional in ODI cricket, Hope’s strike rate in the format this year is 96.75 so far. That strike rate has never touched 80 in a calendar year ever since he made his debut in  2016 which speaks volume of the progress he has made despite moving down the order at No.4. 

Besides Hope, fast bowler Oshane Thomas has also been recalled to the T20I squad having just been included into the ODI setup, for the India series. Shimron Hetmeyer, who missed the T20 World Cup in Australia last year, will strengthen the squad and the former champions will also be bolstered by the arrival of Nicolas Pooran, who just smashed a blistering ton in the inaugural MLC final. 

“The squad is selected with the next ICC Men's T20 World Cup in mind," lead Selector Desmond Haynes said. "We are looking at various plans as we try to find the right combinations. As we prepare; we are looking to build a unit which we believe can do the job when we host the global event in just under a year. We have some match-winners in our line-up and we will look to have the right kind of preparation, starting here in Trinidad on Thursday.

"We also have other players who could come into consideration going forward, with the Caribbean Premier League starting next month, others will come into the reckoning."

Cricket West Indies also emphasised that all 15 members of the Rovman Powell led squad will travel to all five games. However, a 13 man squad will be shortlisted for every game out of which eleven will make the final cut. 

The first of the five games will be played on August 3, two days after the conclusion of the ODI series. Following the first three matches, the two teams will fly to Florida in the United States for the last two matches of the series on August 12 and 13. 

Squad: Rovman Powell (c), Kyle Mayers (vc), Johnson Charles, Roston Chase, Shimron Hetmyer, Jason Holder, Shai Hope, Akeal Hosein, Alzarri Joseph, Brandon King, Obed McCoy, Nicholas Pooran, Romario Shepherd, Odean Smith, Oshane Thomas.