WI vs SA, 1st Test: Possible Playing 11 of West Indies

WI Playing 11: As International Cricket has begun to resume after a break of close to two months, South African contingent have arrived on the shores of St Lucia. They will play a two-test match series followed by 5 T20Is against a strong home side.

WI Playing 11

To begin with, we will be reviewing a possible playing XI for West Indies for the first match, which is scheduled to start on 10^th of June.

Top Order

Captain Kraigg Brathwaite will have to take bulk of the responsibility at the top like he has done for the past few years for West Indies. He will be joined by Kieran Powell, who has earned a recall in the place of John Campbell. Kieran Powell played an innings of 95 in the intra-squad match played earlier at St Lucia. Nkrumah Bonner played at no 3 in the series against Sri Lanka in March, it will be interesting see if Kyle Mayers will be shuffled around at that position to bring back Roston Chase in the middle order.

Middle Order

After missing out on the central contracts last month, Roston Chase has made a comeback in the test squad for this series. With his all-round ability, it is hard to see him missing out from the playing XI. Jermaine Blackwood and wicket-keeper batsman Joshua Da Silva will be taking other spots in the middle while all-rounder Jason Holder will be critical to their chances against the South Africans.

Bowling Attack

The pace bowling attack for the home side is all but confirmed at the moment. Kemar Roach is coming into this series after a strong season for Surrey in England while Shannon Gabriel will again lead the attack along with the former. Alzarri Joseph was decent in the series against Sri Lanka and is likely to keep his place while young Jayden Seales will have to wait for his opportunity in test cricket. Rahkeem Cornwall is the likely option in spin department ahead of Jomel Warrican.

WI Playing XI (likely)

Kraigg Brathwaite ©
Kieran Powell
Kyle Mayers
Roston Chase
Jermaine Blackwood
Jason Holder
Joshua Da Silva
Kemar Roach
Rahkeem Cornwall
Alzarri Joseph
Shannon Gabriel

West Indies Test squad

Kraigg Brathwaite (capt), Jermaine Blackwood (vice-capt), Nkrumah Bonner, Darren Bravo, Roston Chase, Rahkeem Cornwall, Joshua Da Silva, Shannon Gabriel, Jahmar Hamilton, Jason Holder, Shai Hope, Alzarri Joseph, Kyle Mayers, Kieran Powell, Kemar Roach, Jayden Seales, Jomel Warrican