Permaul among four newcomers in WI T20 squad

Jason Mohammed, one of the only bright spots to emerge from a series whitewash by England, has been called up to the West Indies T20I squad for the first time. The 30-year old batsman struck back-to-back fifties earlier this month and could be vital to a side that is missing some of its biggest players.

Chris Gayle has not played international cricket since the 2016 World T20. On top of that, Dwayne Bravo’s hamstring injury and Andre Russell’s ban took away two of the world’s best all-rounders from Carlos Brathwaite’s side. But there was good news on Friday, when it was learnt that Kieron Pollard, Sunil Narine, Samuel Badree and Lendl Simmons were picked for two of the four T20Is against Pakistan from March 26.

A WICB release listing the 16-man squad on Saturday confirmed all four men were available to play the entire series.

Guyanese left-arm spinner Veerasammy Permaul also has the chance to be capped for the first time in T20Is. He picked up 12 wickets from eight List A matches in January and February and will likely be the understudy to leg-spinner Samuel Badree and off-spinner Sunil Narine, who were both in the top 10 of the ICC bowlers rankings in the shortest formats.

Batsmen Jonathon Carter, who has recently become a regular in ODIs, and Rovman Powell, whose power-hitting has invoked comparisons with Russell, pushed the number of uncapped players in the squad to four. The experience of Marlon Samuels and Jason Holder could offset that, although Holder has not played a T20I match for West Indies since 2015.

West Indies T20I squad: Samuel Badree, Carlos Brathwaite (capt), Jonathan Carter, Andre Fletcher, Jason Holder, Evin Lewis, Jason Mohammed, Sunil Narine, Veerasammy Permaul, Kieron Pollard, Rovman Powell, Marlon Samuels, Lendl Simmons, Jerome Taylor, Chadwick Walton, Keswick Williams. (ESPNCricinfo)