Evin Lewis returned to the West Indies side as Cricket West Indies named their 15-member squad for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022 on Wednesday. Nicholas Pooran will lead the West Indies in his first World Cup as captain, with Rovman Powell as vice-captain.

While the squad is missing notable players Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Fabian Allen and Dwayne Bravo, there are two uncapped players in right-arm leg-spinner allrounder Yannic Cariah and left-arm batting allrounder Raymon Reifer along with the surprise inclusion Johnson Charles.

West Indies squad: 

Nicholas Pooran (c), Rovman Powell, Yannic Cariah, Johnson Charles, Sheldon Cottrell, Shimron Hetmyer, Jason Holder, Akeal Hosein, Alzarri Joseph, Brandon King, Evin Lewis, Kyle Mayers, Obed Mccoy, Raymon Reifer, Odean Smith

Speaking about the the selections and the exclusions, CWI lead selector Desmond Haynes said, “We have selected a mixture of youth and experience to represent the West Indies. In the selection process, we have been cognizant of the ongoing Caribbean Premier League and we have been looking at the players who have been playing very well.

He also added: “There are players who did not make the team and I hope they will continue to work hard and perform to their best in the CPL and the upcoming Super50 Cup; because you never know what can happen in case of injuries or any other unforeseen situations where we might need to call up players as replacements.”

The exclusion of particularly Andre Russell is a big one, considering the reputation and experience of the 34-year-old. The all-rounder, so far, has also not had a great CPL season with the Trinbago Knight Riders. As a result, Haynes seemed to have the clarity of thought regarding why the all-rounder did not make the cut.

“We had a meeting with Andre Russell earlier in the year. We’re still not convinced yet, he’s not performing as well as we would like to see him in the competition. I think in the situation with Andre Russell, we’ve just decided to just move on, and look for someone who’s in form, and doing well in the T20 format,” he said, as reported by ESPNCricinfo.

Ahead of the World Cup, West Indies will play hosts Australia in two bilateral T20 International matches. The first match will be played on October 5 at the Metricon Stadium in the Gold Coast with the second match on October 7 at the Gabba in Brisbane.