West Indies pick Brandon King and Hayden Walsh for Afghanistan series

Some impressive performances in the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) 2019 from Brandon King and Hayden Walsh Jr have resulted in the duo receiving their maiden international call-ups to play for the West Indies national side for the upcoming series against Afghanistan in India. King and Walsh Jr. were the highest run-getter and wicket-taker in the CPL 2019 respectively. The Windies have recently made a lot of changes with their limited-overs set up, which will be led by Kieron Pollard. Walsh and King will be a part of the ODI and T20I squads. Opening batsman Lendl Simmons will also make a comeback for the West Indies in the T20 format after two years and wicketkeeper Denesh Ramdin has been selected once again as well.

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Debutants and the comebacks

King took the CPL 2019 by storm as he smashed 496 runs, which was the key for his team, Amazon Guyana Warriors winning 11 matches in a row. Whereas, Walsh also made the most of playing for eventual champions Barbados Tridents this season with 22 wickets in 9 matches. He had earlier played international cricket for the USA. All-rounder Romario Shepherd is an another Warriors’ player who has been selected for the Windies squad for his big-hitting abilities. 

The West Indies' squad for the Test matches is relatively familiar to their series against India recently with Jason Holder as their skipper. The major changes in the squad include fast bowler Alzarri Joseph and left-arm spinner Jomel Warrican returning to the squad in all the formats, whereas pacer Shannon Gabriel will be out of action due to an injury. Wicketkeeper Jahmar Hamilton, who got an opportunity to play against India recently, was dropped in favour of the returning Shane Dowrich. The Afghanistan-West Indies series will be played in Dehradun in India. It will start with the three-match T20I series followed by three ODIs and a one-off Test.

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West Indies squads against Afghanistan

West Indies T20I squad: Kieron Pollard (c), Nicholas Pooran, Evin Lewis, Brandon King, Shimron Hetmyer, Sherfane Rutherford, Jason Holder, Lendl Simmons, Fabian Allen, Hayden Walsh Jr., Khary Pierre, Sheldon Cottrell, Denesh Ramdin, Kesrick Williams, Alzarri Joseph

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ODI squad: Kieron Pollard (c), Shai Hope, Evin Lewis, Shimron Hetmyer, Sunil Ambris, Nicholas Pooran, Brandon King, Roston Chase, Jason Holder, Hayden Walsh Jr., Khary Pierre, Sheldon Cottrell, Keemo Paul, Romario Shepherd, Alzarri Joseph

Test squad: Jason Holder (c), Shai Hope, John Campbell, Kraigg Brathwaite, Shimron Hetmyer, Shamarh Brooks, Roston Chase, Shane Dowrich, Sunil Ambris, Jomel Warrican, Rahkeem Cornwall, Kemar Roach, Keemo Paul, Alzarri Joseph

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