Shai Hope Rested, Kevin Wickham Gets Big Break In West Indies Test Squad

Top-order batter Kevin Wickham has earned his maiden Test call-up to the West Indies' 15-member squad for a two-match away series against Bangladesh, the Caribbean side's final assignment of the 2025-27 ICC World Test Championship cycle. The Tests will begin on October 28 and November 5 in Mirpur and Sylhet, respectively. White-ball captain Shai Hope has been rested for the series following an extended run across all three formats. He is currently leading the West Indies in a white-ball series against India.

With the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier scheduled for February next year, Cricket West Indies (CWI) is managing Hope's workload in the lead-up to the tournament.

The 23-year-old Wickham receives his first opportunity at the senior level following an impressive campaign in the West Indies Championship, where he scored three consecutive centuries, with a highest score of 153. He now has six first-class centuries from 25 matches at an average of more than 40.

Fast bowler Alzarri Joseph has been withdrawn from the Roston Chase-led squad following a routine medical assessment and specialist consultation.

CWI has taken the decision to manage his workload to reduce the risk of injury associated with the increased physical demands of red-ball cricket.

Joseph will continue working with the CWI medical team and specialists in preparation for a full return to the longer format.

All-rounder Keemo Paul has been called up as Joseph's replacement for the series.

Opener John Campbell has returned to the squad after recovering from a hamstring injury that ruled him out of the home Test series against Pakistan.

The rest of the squad remains unchanged from the group that beat Sri Lanka and drew with Pakistan during the summer.

"At the start of this World Test Championship cycle, we set ourselves goals, and one of them was to finish in the top half of the rankings.

"Winning this series would move us closer to that goal. Playing Bangladesh in their own conditions will be challenging, and we're ready for it," head coach Daren Sammy said in a CWI statement.

With a series victory over Bangladesh, West Indies could climb to sixth in the ICC Test rankings at the conclusion of the current cycle after finishing eighth in the 2023-25 cycle.

The full squad will arrive in Bangladesh on October 18 for a three-day warm-up match in Dhaka from October 22 to 24.

West Indies Test squad for Bangladesh tour: Roston Chase (C), Jomel Warrican (VC), Joshua Bishop, John Campbell, Tagenarine Chanderpaul, Joshua Da Silva, Justin Greaves, Kavem Hodge, Amir Jangoo, Shamar Joseph, Brandon King, Keemo Paul, Kemar Roach, Jayden Seales, Kevin Wickham.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

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