Kieran Powell dropped as Windies name strong squad for Sri Lanka Tests

After his lacklustre performance at home against Pakistan, the West Indies selectors have dropped the opening batter Kieran Powell from the 15-man squad for the upcoming series against Sri Lanka. Uncapped opener Jeremy Solozano, who has been named in the squad, is expected to take Powell’s place in the lineup, after impressing the selectors in the Best vs Best matches.

Powell returned with scores of 0, 4, 5 and 23 in Windies’ loss against Pakistan at home, with skipper Kraigg Brathwaite taking most of the scoring onus upon himself in that series. 

"The Best v Best matches provided the opportunity for the players to spend some time in the middle honing their skills for this tour," Lead selector Roger Harper said.

"Jeremy played for the West Indies 'A' Team in 2019 (against India 'A') with success and in the Best v Best matches he displayed a sense of application, patience, and composure, while looking very comfortable against both pace and spin which encouraged the panel to invest in him at this point."

The Caribbean side welcomed the experienced pacer Shannon Gabriel back into the setup, after the pacer was left out of the home series against Pakistan, due to a hamstring injury. Veerasammy Permaul, who made his return earlier against Bangladesh in the Test setup has been named in the squad for the upcoming tour.

"The aim was to simulate as much as possible, the conditions that the team will likely face in Sri Lanka, so it was good to see the batsmen spending time at the crease while putting some scores together and the bowlers looking to build pressure and create wicket-taking opportunities.

Brathwaite’s side are scheduled to play a warm-up match, on November 14 in Colombo, before they take on Sri Lanka in the two Test series, that starts on November 21, with the second Test on November 29. 

Squad: Kraigg Brathwaite (C), Jermaine Blackwood (VC), Nkrumah Bonner, Roston Chase, Rahkeem Cornwall, Joshua Da Silva, Shannon Gabriel, Jason Holder, Shai Hope, Kyle Mayers, Veerasammy Permaul, Kemar Roach, Jayden Seales, Jeremy Solozano, Jomel Warrican.