West Indies name 12-man squad for India Tests

St. John's (Antigua), July 12: West Indies have announced a 12-man squad to face India in the four-Test series starting in Antigua on July 21. Veteran wicketkeeper Denesh Ramdin has beeen dropped while uncapped batsman Roston Chase is picked.

Ind-WI Test series schedule

The team will be captained by fast bowling all-rounder Jason Holder. Kraigg Brathwaite is his deputy. In Ramdin's absence, Shane Dowrich will take over the big gloves.

Chase, the 24-year-old right-handed batsman, has played 29 first-class matches scoring 1,672 runs at an average of 42.87 with 2 centuries. He also bowls off-spin.

The 31-year-old Ramdin had indicated last week that he will not be in the Test squad. He took to the micro-blogging site to reveal about his disappointment and at the same time hit out at the chairman of the selection committee, Courtney Browne, a former stumper. Ramdin has played 74 Tests. The West Indies board has "sanctioned" Ramdin for his comments.

Leon Johnson, who capainted West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) President's XI in the drawn game against Team India, has earned a recall despite scoring only 2 runs in the two-day contest. He will get one more chance to impress as WICB President's XI, led by him, face India in a 3-day warm-up game from Thursday (July 14).

In the warm-up game, Chase and Dowrich also played. Chase made 3 and Dowrich 7. Shai Hope who hit a century (118), has been ignored. Veteran batsman Marlon Samuels is also selected along with Darren Bravo.

Devendra Bishoo is the lone specialist spinner in the squad. The 30-year-old legspinner has played 15 Tests had has 55 wickets. Shannon Gabriel is the only specialist fast bowler. However, West Indies have seam bowling options in Holder and Carlos Brathwaite.

West Indies Test squad: Jason Holder (captain), Kraigg Brathwaite (vice-captain), Devendra Bishoo, Jermaine Blackwood, Carlos Brathwaite, Darren Bravo, Rajendra Chandrika, Roston Chase, Shane Dowrich (wicketkeeper), Shannon Gabriel, Leon Johnson, Marlon Samuels.

India squad: Virat Kohli (captain), Ajinkya Rahane (vice-captain), Murali Vijay, Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Rohit Sharma, Wriddhiman Saha (wicketkeeper), R Ashwin, Amit Mishra, Ravindra Jadeja, Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umesh Yadav, Shardul Thakur, Stuart Binny.

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