West Indies Test squad for Pakistan tour announced; Alzarri Joseph, Shamar Joseph miss out

West Indies have named their 15-member squad for the upcoming tour of Pakistan next month. The squad has a few changes to the one that played Bangladesh recently. Fast bowler Alzarri Joseph missed out while the wicketkeeper-batter Amir Jangoo got a maiden look-in for Test cricket.

Alzarri Joseph is unavailable for the series due to its clash with the ILT20 in the UAE where he will feature for the MI Emirates. The Cricket West Indies (CWI) termed his unavailability as "other engagements" in their press release.

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West Indies announce Test squad for Pakistan tour

The squad will be led by Kraigg Brathwaite while the wicketkeeper Joshua Da Silva has been appointed the vice-captain of the team. Brathwaite and Mikyle Louis are the openers while Alick Athanaze, Keacy Carty, Kavem Hodge, and allrounder Justin Greaves are the middle-order batters.

Kemar Roach is the most experienced player in the team and is also the spearhead of the fast bowling attack. He will have youngsters like Jayden Seales and Anderson Phillip to accompany him.

Since the series is in Pakistan, the spinners are going to have a big role to play. As a result, West Indies have gone with a spin-heavy attack and brought back the left-arm spinner Gudakesh Motie in their squad. Jomel Warrican and the offspinner Kevin Sinclair are the other two spinners in the squad.

Motie missed the last Test series against Bangladesh due to his commitments with the inaugural Global Super League in Guyana. After the selection, West Indies red-ball head coach Andre Coley spoke about the squad which is based on spin bowling.

"(Gudakesh) Motie rejoins the squad to bolster the spin attack, while Jangoo's selection comes on the back of his consistency across formats in regional cricket, as well as his demonstrated high level of competency against spin bowling," Andre Coley said.

"For the Test series against Pakistan in January 2025, the focus is on building on what we have done well, and transforming the learnings from 2024 into tangible results," he added.

Amir Jangoo gets maiden Test call-up

Meanwhile, Amir Jangoo has earned a maiden Test call-up after consistent performances in domestic cricket during the 2023-24 season. Jangoo scored 500 runs in five first-class games at an average of 63.50. He struck 2 hundreds and a solitary fifty during the season and was the highest run-scorer for Trinidad & Tobago.

Jangoo is also the second wicketkeeper in the squad after Joshua Da Silva. However, his batting capabilities mean that he can be in line to make his Test debut during the series purely as a batter.

Recently, Jangoo smashed a sensational hundred in his maiden ODI match against Bangladesh. He struck an unbeaten 104 off just 83 balls which included 6 fours and 4 sixes as West Indies chased down a record target of 322 runs.

The two-match Test series between Pakistan and West Indies will begin on January 17. The second Test of the series will be played from January 25. Both the matches will be held in Multan.

West Indies Test squad for Pakistan tour

Kraigg Brathwaite (C), Joshua Da Silva (wk), Alick Athanaze, Keacy Carty, Justin Greaves, Kavem Hodge, Tevin Imlach, Amir Jangoo (wk), Mikyle Louis, Gudakesh Motie, Anderson Phillip, Kemar Roach, Kevin Sinclair, Jayden Seales, Jomel Warrican