By Brandon Corlette
Veteran cricket commentator Joseph “Reds” Perreira was happy with the West Indies One-Day International (ODI) squad which was selected for the three-match series against India. The series starts today at 09:30h Eastern Caribbean time at Kensington Oval, Bridgetown, Barbados.
“The selectors seem to have learnt a lot from the mistakes they might have made in the squad to Zimbabwe. They seem to have come up with their best selection in a long time,” “Reds” said.
Despite expressing satisfaction on the overall squad, “Reds” wanted reason as it relates to Nicholas Pooran and Jason Holder being unavailable.
“It is not quite clear why Jason Holder is unavailable, but if he wants to preserve himself, one can understand that.
“It is difficult to understand that Nicholas Pooran could not have done what Shimron Hetmyer did, in terms of leaving America and come to represent West Indies. It would have been great to have Pooran and Hetmyer in the middle,” “Reds” said.
“Very happy to see the return of Dominic Drakes. He has been overlooked by the selectors for a very long time. His addition gives an option to Shai Hope in terms of bowling options. Happy to see Gudakesh Motie has returned, after his back injury. He is important to West Indies.”
The veteran cricket commentator added: “The investment in Oshane Thomas once more is an important one. There were some plans to get him fitter; he played some cricket in England, and we are told that he has been working on shedding weight. So, we have to wait and see if he can produce that pace which was missing in Zimbabwe to back up Alzarri Joseph.”
Also, “Reds” noted that Joseph could have taken some rest, as he looks jaded.
“Happy to see [Alick] Athanaze. He is one who can get the scoreboard ticking, Yannic Cariah, more of a T20 bowlers than ODI, he does not bowl enough googly. It will be interesting to see how the three spinners play. It will be important to see how the West Indies compete against India,” “Reds” posited.
