England squad for white-ball series against West Indies announced, Jos Buttler returns

On Wednesday, October 2, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) announced the strong 14-man squad for the upcoming white-ball series against the West Indies National Cricket Team.

The Three Lions are all set to tour West Indies for a three-match ODI series and a five-match T20I series. The English team and the West Indies will lock horns with each other in the ODI matches on October 31, November 2, and 6 with the matches being played across Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, North Sound, Antigua, and Kensington Oval, Bridgetown, Barbados.

Following the conclusion of the ODIs, the T20I series will commence on November 9 at the Kensington Oval, Bridgetown, Barbados. The next four matches are scheduled to be played on November 10, 14, 16, and 17 across Kensington Oval, Bridgetown, Barbados, and Beausejour Stadium, Gros Islet, St Lucia.

In a massive boost for England, white-ball skipper Jos Buttler is all set to return to competitive cricket for the series. He was out of action with a calf injury and last featured for England in the T20 World Cup 2024 semi-final.

In the absence of Jos Buttler, the T20I captaincy was handed to Phil Salt while Harry Brook led the team in the ODI series against Australia. Although Jos Buttler has returned to the side, there is no clarity on whether he will keep wickets. Recently, Buttler stated that he is ready to quit wicketkeeping duties to improve certain things in his game, including captaincy.

Yorkshire leg-spinner Jafer Chohan earns his first England call-up

The leg-spinner from Yorkshire Jafer Chohan has got his maiden call-up to the English team and alongside him, John Turner and Dan Mousley are the two uncapped players in the white-ball team.

"Yorkshire leg-spinner Jafer Chohan earns his first England Men’s call-up and becomes the first graduate of the South Asian Cricket Academy to be selected to an England Men's squad," ECB said in a media statement.

Notably, the South Asian Cricket Academy was launched in 2021 by Dr Tom Brown with the aim remedy the under-representation of British South Asian players in the professional game.

Also, Jafer Chohan is one of the 10 players to have moved from the scheme into the professional game. The leg-spinner was excellent with the ball in the recent edition of Vitality Blast where he bagged 17 wickets at 15.52. Also, he recently signed a three-year contract with Yorkshire.

Meanwhile, the ECB has announced that two more players will be added to the white-ball squad for the West Indies tour from the squad that will travel to Pakistan for the Test series.

The additions will be made after the selection of the English team for the third and final Test against Pakistan. As per ESPNCricinfo, Jordan Cox and Jamie Smith are two players who will be added to the team.

England white-ball squad for West Indies series: Jos Buttler (c), Jofra Archer, Jacob Bethell, Jafer Chohan, Sam Curran, Will Jacks, Liam Livingstone, Saqib Mahmood, Dan Mousley, Jamie Overton, Adil Rashid, Phil Salt, Reece Topley, John Turner.

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