Rampaul, Chase named in West Indies T20 World Cup squad

West Indies have named Ravi Rampaul and Roston Chase in their 15-member squad for the 2021 T20 World Cup. The defending champions will be led by Kieron Pollard, while Nicholas Pooran has been appointed his deputy. Meanwhile, Sheldon Cottrell, Jason Holder, Akeal Hosein and Darren Bravo have been named in reserves.

Both Rampaul and Chase have been in superb form in the ongoing CPL 2021. The right-arm seamer, who last played a T20I for West Indies in November 2015, is currently the leading wicket-taker in CPL 2021. The 36-year-old has claimed 17 wickets in eight matches at a strike rate of 10.8 and an economy of 7.20.

Meanwhile, Chase is yet to make his T20I debut and has only played 23 competitive T20s so far in his career. Just like Rampaul, the middle-order batsman has been very impressive in CPL 2021. The right-hander is currently the leading run-scorer in the tournament, having scored 311 runs in eight innings at an average of 62.20 and a strike rate of 153.20.

"The squad is one with good depth and strength in all departments. There is tremendous T20 experience along with World Cup winning experience which should stand the team in good stead. This squad is made up of many world-beating players who, once knitted into a world-beating team, will be extremely difficult to beat. I expect the team to do very well and with the 'rub of the green' I think the team has a good chance of defending the title," Roger Harper, the lead selector, said.

"Ravi Rampaul is a highly experienced bowler who performed well in the last CG Insurance Super50 Cup and the current Hero CPL to date. He will boost the team's wicket-taking options in the power-play and the middle phase and will provide another option for the death overs.

"Roston Chase has shown that he is a very capable T20 player. He performed well in the CPL in 2020 and has been outstanding in the 2021 edition so far. He has shown the ability to knit the innings together while still scoring at a fast rate with a low dot-ball percentage. He will be an excellent foil for the explosive players in the team."

Sunil Narine has been active around the franchise-based leagues but hasn't played for West Indies since August 2019. Hayden Walsh Jr is the only frontline spinner in the squad but West Indies have two solid spin-bowling allrounders - Fabian Allen and Chase.

West Indies are placed in Group 1 with England, Australia, South Africa and two qualifying teams. They will start their campaign against England on October 23 in Dubai.

Squad - Kieron Pollard, Nicholas Pooran, Fabian Allen, Dwayne Bravo, Roston Chase, Andre Fletcher, Chris Gayle, Shimron Hetmyer, Evin Lewis, Obed McCoy, Ravi Rampaul, Andre Russell, Lendl Simmons, Oshane Thomas, Hayden Walsh Jr.

Reserves - Darren Bravo, Sheldon Cottrell, Jason Holder, Akeal Hosein.