West Indies have suffered a major setback ahead of their upcoming two-Test series against India as fast bowler Shamar Joseph has been sidelined due to injury. In his place, uncapped pace-bowling allrounder Johann Layne has been called up to the squad.
Joseph Sidelined, Layne Gets His Chance
Cricket West Indies (CWI) confirmed Joseph’s unavailability through a tweet, though the exact nature of the injury was not revealed. The pacer will be reassessed before the team’s limited-overs tour of Bangladesh.
After the India Tests conclude on October 14, West Indies are scheduled to play three ODIs and three T20Is in Bangladesh, followed by a full tour of New Zealand later in the year.
“𝑰𝒕’𝒔 𝒂 𝒉𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒄 𝒄𝒂𝒍𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒂𝒓 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝑾𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝑰𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒆𝒔, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒓 𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒂𝒈𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆 𝒄𝒓𝒖𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒍,” 𝒂 𝑪𝑾𝑰 𝒐𝒇𝒇𝒊𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒍 𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒆𝒅.
Joseph, who burst onto the scene with a five-wicket haul on debut against Australia in January 2024, has since claimed 51 wickets in 11 Tests at an average of 21.66.
Layne’s Rising Red-Ball Career
At just 22, Johann Layne has been steadily building his reputation. He has featured in 19 first-class matches, taking 66 wickets at 22.28 and scoring nearly 500 runs with the bat. His record includes four five-fors and three four-wicket hauls.
Layne was recently part of West Indies A against South Africa A, contributing with both bat and ball. His standout performance came for West Indies Academy, where he bagged 27 wickets in six matches at an astonishing average of 15.88, including a six-wicket haul against the Windward Islands.
“𝑳𝒂𝒚𝒏𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒂 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒎𝒊𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒅𝒅𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒂𝒃𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒕𝒐 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒃𝒖𝒕𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒃𝒐𝒕𝒉 𝒃𝒂𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒃𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒆𝒔 𝒉𝒊𝒎 𝒂 𝒗𝒂𝒍𝒖𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒂𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒕,” 𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒔 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅.
Updated West Indies Squad for India Series
- Roston Chase (capt)
- Jomel Warrican (vice-capt)
- Kevlon Anderson
- Alick Athanaze
- John Campbell
- Tagenarine Chanderpaul
- Justin Greaves
- Shai Hope
- Tevin Imlach
- Johann Layne
- Alzarri Joseph
- Brandon King
- Anderson Phillip
- Khary Pierre
- Jayden Seales
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