India tour: Roach returns to West Indies squad

St John's (Antigua): Seasoned pacer Kemar Roach and young all-rounder Nkrumah Bonner have been recalled to the West Indies ODI squad for the three-match series in India beginning February 6.

Roach, who has not played any List A cricket since his last ODI in 2019, has made the return with West Indies great Desmond Haynes picking him in his first squad selection since taking over as lead selector.

Six additions have been made to the squad, to be led by Kieron Pollard, that lost to Ireland at home.

The ODIs against India will be played at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on February 6, 9 and 11.

The T20Is will be played at Eden Gardens in Kolkata on February 16, 18 and 20 and the Caribbean squad for that is expected to be announced on Friday.

Besides the experienced Roach, the 22-year-old Bonner, a middle-order batter whose last ODI appearance was exactly a year ago, and Brandon King, an opener, have been recalled to the squad.

The 27-year-old King's last one-day outing in national colours was back in 2020.

Roach has so far played 92 ODIs with 124 wickets.

Bonner made his ODI debut in Bangladesh a year ago and has so far played three matches, while King has appeared in four matches in this format.

"Kemar Roach is one of



our leading fast bowlers and we believe we need bowlers upfront to get early wicket, and Kemar, with an economy rate of five, is certainly good enough to play.

"Over the last few years, Nkrumah Bonner's cricket has come on leaps and bounds and we believe he should be given an opportunity to play in the 50-over format," said Haynes in a statement."

The series will be part of the ICC ODI Super League and the West Indies will have the opportunity to win points to be one of the top seven teams, excluding hosts India, to gain automatic qualification for the 2023 World Cup.

"We want to have competition for places. We want to reach a stage where we have a lot of players fighting for positions. We want to broaden the pool of players we have to choose from.

"The team we have selected is a very good side and we are looking at this tour as part of the preparations for the World Cup in India in 2023," Haynes added.