Alzarri, Russell ‘rested’ for West Indies’ T20s vs South Africa

WEST Indies will aim to rebound from their Test series loss to South Africa when they tackle the Proteas in a three-match Twenty/20 series from August 23-27 at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy in Tarouba, Trinidad.

On August 18, Cricket West Indies (CWI) announced the regional team’s 15-man squad for the series, with as many as 12 players being retained from the Windies’ squad which contested the 2024 International Cricket Council (ICC) Men’s T20 World Cup which was held from June 1-29 in the Caribbean and the US.

Jamaican Rovman Powell will lead the West Indies team, with allrounder Roston Chase, one of the team’s standout players from the T20 World Cup, elevated to the post of vice-captain for the series. The squad also features regulars such as Nicholas Pooran, Akeal Hosein, Gudakesh Motie and Romario Shepherd. Guyanese pacer Shamar Joseph, who was part of the World Cup squad but did not play, is in the team again. He took a five-wicket haul in the second Test against South Africa last week.

The West Indies will be without the 2024 T20 World Cup trio of Brandon King, Andre Russell and regular vice-captain Alzarri Joseph.

A CWI release said both Joseph and Russell will be rested for the series, with former captain Jason Holder also requesting a “period of rest and recovery” for the series. Joseph was also rested for the preceding two-match Test series which the West Indies lost 1-0.

The CWI release said King will continue his rehabilitation from the injury which brought his T20 World Cup campaign to an end versus England in the Super Eight phase of the competition on June 10.

The Windies and South Africa met as recently as June 23 in the T20 format, when captain Aiden Markram’s charges got a nail-biting three-wicket win to knock Powell’s team out at the Super Eight phase of the World Cup.

Back in May, the teams also met in a three-match T20 series in Jamaica, with the hosts getting a 3-0 series win. Both teams were missing several players from their T20 World Cup squads.

With King, Joseph and Russell unavailable, top-order batsman Alick Athanaze, seamer Matthew Forde and allrounder Fabian Allen have been brought into the Windies squad for the upcoming T20s. Both Allen and Forde were listed among the reserves for the T20 World Cup.

Windies coach Daren Sammy, a two-time T20 World Cup winner, is excited to start the project for the next T20 World Cup.

“Facing a strong South Africa side is an excellent opportunity for our team to reset and refocus with our game plan. We have played them recently and had mixed results, so this should be an exciting and important series,” Sammy said. “I’m confident in the squad we’ve selected, and with eyes already on the next T20 World Cup in 2026, I know the guys will be keen to show their hunger for success.”

From 3 pm on August 23, Powell’s charges will try to exact a measure of revenge for their damning loss to the Proteas at the T20 World Cup.

Windies T20 squad:

Rovman Powell (captain), Roston Chase (vice-Captain), Fabian Allen, Alick Athanaze, Johnson Charles, Matthew Forde, Shimron Hetmyer, Shai Hope, Akeal Hosein, Shamar Joseph, Obed McCoy, Gudakesh Motie, Nicholas Pooran, Sherfane Rutherford, Romario Shepherd.

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