West Indies recall Chanderpaul, Athanaze; Brathwaite excluded for Test series in India

New Delhi, Sep 16 (PTI) Former captain Kraigg Brathwaite was on Tuesday dropped while Tagenarine Chanderpaul and Alick Athanaze recalled in the West Indies' 15-member squad to face India in a two-Test series next month.

The West Indies will play two Tests -- in Ahmedabad from October 2-6 and in New Delhi from October 10-14 -- which will also be their first away assignment of the current World Test Championship 2025-27 cycle.

Roston Chase will continue to lead the Caribbean side with Jomel Warrican as his deputy, with the selectors also giving a maiden Test call-up to the 33-year-old all-rounder Khary Pierre.

But the 32-year-old Brathwaite, who captained the West Indies when they toured India last time in 2018 and had resigned from the post in March this year, was excluded from the squad following a poor run with the bat against Australia in their last assignment of three-Test series at home.

The right-handed batter had scored 4, 4, 0 and 7 in the first two Tests and was dropped from the third. Brathwaite had become only the 10th West Indies cricketer to have completed 100 Tests in the second Test at Grenada.

"Chanderpaul and Athanaze have been included to bolster the top-order batting while Pierre has been included as the second specialist spinner in the squad after strong performances in the West Indies Championship, where topped with 41 wickets at an average of 13.56," Cricket West Indies said on their website.

"The national selectors have 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 next year," it added.

Former captain and head coach Daren Sammy said, “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." The squad will arrive in Ahmedabad on September 24 after leaving from the Caribbean on September 22.

West Indies squad: Roston Chase (c), Jomel Warrican (vc), Kevlon Anderson, Alick Athanaze, John Campbell, Tagenarine Chanderpaul, Justin Greaves, Shai Hope (wk), Tevin Imlach, Alzarri Joseph, Shamar Joseph, Brandon King, Anderson Phillip, Khary Pierre, Jayden Seales.

Team Management: Head Coach: Daren Sammy, Assistant Coach (Batting): Floyd Reifer, Assistant Coach (Bowling): Ravi Rampaul, Assistant Coach (Fielding): Rayon Griffith. PTI SSC SSC DDV