ST JOHN’S, Antigua – The West Indies Cricket Board Selection Committee has named the Trinidadian duo of Jason Mohammed and Sunil Narine on the West Indies 15-man squad to face India in five One Day Internationals starting on November 30. The 25-year-old right-handed Mohammed emerged as the Player-of-the-Tournament in the recently concluded Regional Super50 and also won the Richie Richardson Trophy for top batsman of the tournament.
The fast-rising Narine won the Curtly Ambrose Trophy for topping the Super50 bowling and was selected to the West Indies A Team to face Bangladesh A in the ongoing series in the Caribbean.
The two are the only two new faces in the squad.
WICB Selector Robert Haynes disclosed that Mohammed’s performance in the Super50 weighed heavily towards his selection.
“In the Super50 Jason showed maturity, guts and fight in the way he batted on some difficult pitches,” Haynes said.
“He scored vital runs to pull his team out of difficult situations, scored the most runs in the tournament and as selectors we also thought that with the pitches in Guyana not being very different from the pitches in India and Jason having done so well on those types of surface that it augured well for his selection to the ODI squad,” Haynes elaborated.
The former West Indies and Jamaica leg-spinner also said that Narine’s steady progress over the past year has allowed him to stand out among regional spinners.
“Sunil bowled well in the Indian conditions in Champions League for Trinidad and Tobago and then in the Super50 he was exceptional. Batsmen have difficulty reading him and we thought that he is deserving of his selection to show his worth against international batsmen,” Haynes said.
“He is also a capable lower order batsman who can give the team 30 to 40 runs and overall we are impressed with the way he approaches batting both for Trinidad and Tobago and in the recent West Indies A Team match in St Lucia,” Haynes added.
West Indies ODI Squad: Darren Sammy (captain), Adrian Barath, Darren Bravo, Danza Hyatt, Anthony Martin, Jason Mohammed, Sunil Narine, Kieron Pollard, Kieran Powell, Denesh Ramdin, Ravi Rampaul, Kemar Roach, Andre Russell, Marlon Samuels and Lendl Simmons.