Tagenarine Chanderpaul and Alick Athanaze have been added to the West Indies batting line up as Cricket West Indies (CWI) announced its 15-member touring squad for the October 2nd-14th, two-test series against India.

The series forms part of the ICC World Test Championship and will be the first away fixture for the test team in the new cycle and the first test tour of India since 2018. After a humiliating home defeat against Australia, emergency committee meetings were held to assess what had gone wrong in recent years with the once dominant West Indian cricket team.

The selectors have three changes from the squad which recently faced Australia, with the inclusions of Chanderpaul and Athanaze, along with a maiden test call up for left arm spinner Khary Pierre.

Roston Chase continues as captain but Mikyle Lewis who scored 7 and 4 in the 3rd test is dropped. Kevlon Anderson who scored just three runs in that test retains his place though.

Kraigg Brathwaite and Keacy Carty who scored 7 and 16 in total in their two second test innings miss out. Bizarrely, Brathwaite was out for 4 both times on the first test at Bridgetown while Carty also made two identical scores, reaching exactly 20 both times,

Chanderpaul and Athanaze have been included to bolster the top order batting which failed so poorly against the Aussies, while Pierre has been included as the second specialist spinner in the squad after strong performances in the West Indies Championship, where he claimed a chart topping 41 wickets at an average of 13.56.

The selection group has opted to rest Gudakesh Motie for this red-ball series given the demands of the upcoming limited overs schedule, the highlight being the ICC T20 World Cup in February and March of next year.

Head Coach Daren Sammy welcomes the challenge of playing against one of the top ranked teams on its home soil.

“Playing in the subcontinent always presents a challenge and we have selected a team to be competitive in these conditions.” said Sammy. “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 plans of the team.”

Sammy added,

“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”

Director of Cricket Miles Bascombe underscored the thinking behind the squad selection:

“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.”

The team departs the Caribbean on September 22 and is set to arrive in Ahmedabad on September 24.

West Indies Test Tour to India:

Roston Chase (Captain)

Jomel Warrican (Vice-Captain)

Kevlon Anderson

Alick Athanaze

John Campbell

Tagenarine Chanderpaul

Justin Greaves

Shai Hope

Tevin Imlach

Alzarri Joseph