Holder, Joseph to depart early from WC Qualifier for India series

Jason Holder and Alzarri Joseph will depart early from the ODI World Cup Qualifier which is being held in Zimbabwe. Their decision to depart early is because they want to prepare for the upcoming series against India in July-August.

The India series including two Tests, three ODIs, and five T20s prompted the decision for them to return early. With Yannic Cariah already withdrawn due to a facial injury, the squad will be left with 13 players, and no replacements have been announced yet.

“Jason and Alzarri are two of our leading bowlers in all formats,” emphasized Desmond Haynes as quoted by ESPN Cricinfo. He acknowledged their importance and the necessity to manage their workload. Desmond Haynes is the lead selector for the West Indies team.

“We have a full schedule for the upcoming series against India, where we begin the new ICC World Test Championship, then followed by the ODIs and the five T20Is. Therefore, we had dialogue, and it was felt the best move at this time is to have two of our leading bowlers return early from Zimbabwe,” he continued.

The much-awaited series against India is going to start with two Tests. The first match will be played on July 12 and the 2nd match will be played on July 20. West Indies’ hopes of qualifying for the ODI World Cup were recently shattered due to their poor performance. Scotland, Zimbabwe, and the Netherlands defeated them in the World Cup qualifiers. This marks for the first time that WI won’t participate in the ODI World Cup.