Follow UsA couple of hours prior to the West Indies clash against Oman in the Super Six stage of the World Cup Qualifiers in Zimbabwe, senior bowlers Jason Holder and Alzarri Joseph are set to return to the Caribbean, announced the Windies Cricket Board.
The duo have been an integral part of the West Indies team in all three formats of the game, and the team management has decided to manage their workload ahead of the series against India next week.
"Jason and Alzarri are two of our leading bowlers in all formats. We have a full schedule for the upcoming series against India, where we begin the new ICC World Test Championship, then followed by the CG United ODIs and the five T20Is," Desmond Haynes, the chief selector, stated in a press release.
"Therefore, we had dialogue, and it was felt the best move at this time is to have two of our leading bowlers return early from Zimbabwe.”
West Indies will lock horns against India in the first of the two Tests on July 12 at Windsor Park, which also kickstarts the new cycle of the World Test Championship for the two sides.
The second game will be played from July 20 in Port of Spain, which marks the 100th Test between the two sides, followed by three ODIs and five T20Is.
West Indies endured a dismal outing in the World Cup Qualifiers and are knocked out of the competition after suffering a heartbreak against Scotland.
The world champions also lost against Zimbabwe and Netherlands in the group stages, making it impossible for them to qualify for the mega event set to take place in India later this year.
With pride at stake in their last two matches against Oman and Sri Lanka on July 5 and 7, West Indies will aim to end the tournament on a high.
The team management have not named any replacement for the duo and will have only 13 players to choose from in the last two fixtures.