Evin Lewis called up for T20 series against Bangladesh

Evin Lewis
Evin Lewis

(ICC) Windies opener Evin Lewis, who pulled out of the Windies team’s last tour, to India, is part of a 15-man squad for the three-match Twenty20 International series against Bangladesh.

The Windies batting is set to get a boost by the inclusion of Lewis, who boasts a T20I average of 33.06 and a strike-rate of 157.44. Lewis’ last outing for Windies was during their home T20I series against Bangladesh – a series in which he wasn’t too prolific, returning scores of two and one.

Also returning to the side are fast bowlers Kesrick Williams and Sheldon Cottrell. Meanwhile, Obed McCoy misses out due to injury as does star all-rounder Kieron Pollard.

Andre Russell, who missed the India tour through knee injury but played in the T10 thereafter, doesn’t feature in the 15-man squad either.

“The squad will be without Kieron Pollard and Obed McCoy, who are both out with injuries,” said Courtney Browne, the Windies chairman of selectors.

“The selection panel welcomes back Sheldon Cottrell and Kesrick Williams. Evin Lewis who missed the India series, also makes a return and the panel hopes to see a bigger commitment from him to Windies cricket.”

The squad will continue to be captained by Carlos Brathwaite with stand-in ODI captain Rovman Powell set to be his deputy. Newcomers like Nicholas Pooran, Khary Pierre, Fabian Allen and Oshane Thomas have retained their places.

The uncapped Sherfane Rutherford, who was in the squad for the India tour but didn’t play, retains his place in the squad too. The series starts on 17 December at Sylhet before moving to Dhaka for the remaining two clashes.

Squad: Carlos Brathwaite (c), Darren Bravo, Shimron Hetmyer, Fabian Allen, Kesrick Williams, Keemo Paul, Khary Pierre, Evin Lewis, Nicholas Pooran, Rovman Powell (VC), Denesh Ramdin, Shai Hope, Sherfane Rutherford, Sheldon Cottrell, Oshane Thomas