West Indies Test squad for India series announced; Kraigg Brathwaite dropped, Tagenarine Chanderpaul returns

On Tuesday, September 16, the Cricket West Indies (CWI) officially announced the 15-man squad for the upcoming Test series against the India National Cricket Team.

West Indies and India will clash in the Test series opener from October 2 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, and the second red-ball game will commence on October 10 at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi.

Tagenarine Chanderpaul and Alick Athanaze return to the West Indies squad

The upcoming Test tour to India will mark the first away series for the Caribbean team in the new cycle of the ICC World Test Championship.

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West Indies' first home series in the WTC 2025-27 cycle came against Australia, and they were absolutely annihilated across all three matches and faced a whitewash.

Meanwhile, for the high-profile series against India, the Roston Chase-led side has recalled Tagenarine Chanderpaul and Alick Athanaze and handed the maiden call-up to the spinner Khary Pierre.

Overall, the Cricket West Indies selection committee has made three changes from the squad that locked horns with the Aussies. The players who have been dropped are Kraigg Brathwaite, Keacy Carty, Mikyle Louis, and Johann Layne.

They are hoping that the presence of Chanderpaul and Athanaze would act as a big boost for the batting unit, and spinner Pierre will bolster the bowling unit.

Alzarri Joseph, Shamar Joseph, Brandon King, and Jayden Seales are other major names in the squad, but one player that will be missing the series is Gudakesh Motie, who has been given rest to keep him fresh for upcoming limited-overs action.

Meanwhile, the Caribbean players will leave for India on September 22 and are set to land in Ahmedabad on September 24, before starting their training.

Playing in the subcontinent always presents a challenge - Daren Sammy

In an official statement released by CWI, head coach Daren Sammy said that playing in India would be challenging for them, but they are ready for it. He elaborated:

“Playing in the subcontinent always presents a challenge and we have selected a team to be competitive in these conditions. This will be our second series together as a test team, but we have already shown what we are capable of as a unit once we are committed to our brand and the plans of the team.”

“The return of Tagenarine Chanderpaul is to help transform our fortunes at the top of the order given the recent struggles, with Alick Athanaze being added for his strengths and qualities against spin bowling. Khary is included for the first time as our second spinner in what we expect to be helpful conditions”

Meanwhile, the Director of Cricket, Miles Bascombe, said that the squad has been selected keeping in mind the strengths of the opposition. He said:

“Our approach to squad selection continues to be calculated and deliberate. We consider the opposition, the playing conditions, and the skill sets required to be successful against specific opposition. The inclusion of players has therefore been guided not only by their recent performances, but also by identifying who within our pool is best suited to deliver positive results on these surfaces, against this quality of opposition."

"At the same time, we are conscious of building continuity and depth in our Test squad as we look to compete consistently throughout this World Test Championship cycle.”

West Indies Squad For India Series

Squad: Roston Chase (Captain), Jomel Warrican (Vice-Captain), Kevlon Anderson, Alick Athanaze, John Campbell, Tagenarine Chanderpaul, Justin Greaves, Shai Hope, Tevin Imlach, Alzarri Joseph, Shamar Joseph, Brandon King, Anderson Phillip, Khary Pierre, Jayden Seales

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