The West Indies cricket team has suffered a massive setback ahead of their Test series against India, with injuries to fast bowlers Alzarri Joseph and Shamar Joseph, and with all-rounder Jason Holder withdrawing from consideration. This leaves Cricket West Indies (CWI) with no choice but to rethink their squad, raising concerns about the team’s ability to compete against a strong Indian team.
Joseph, the 27-year-old fast bowler, has been a major part of the West Indies’ four Test matches playing 13 out of the 15 games on their tour with Australia. Joseph’s 13 wickets with the ball are a major contributor to the West Indies’ success. His ability to bowl fast with bounce made him a vital member of the attack which has seen him suffer with injuries over the last few seasons. Joseph was diagnosed with a degenerative disc injury in the lower back, which over time, the CWI said was ruled out. This is a massive loss to the West Indies, where batters have his experience and picks in the West Indies attack to combat the India series where they are likely to struggle with their attack.
Continuing problems for the team include Shamar Joseph, who got injured three days before the match, after being the leading wicket-taker in the Australia series. Joseph’s absence left a gap in the pace department, and with the loss of Alzarri, the team is very low on fast-bowlers. Both Blowers being out of the match puts the professional load on Jayden Seales, the only experienced fast bowler in the team. After having a good season, Seales is now the only reliable bowler, and will be under a lot of pressure to lead the bowling against a high-quality Indian batting line-up, on Indian home soil.
Jediah Blades, 23 and a left-arm fast bowler, is now the rest of the teams only pace bowler. Blades, who has played against the West Indies in ODI and T20 in Pakistan, is still waiting for his chance to play in the Test series and for his first test. With the extra fast bowler, Blades now has a chance to show his skills on a big stage. “Jediah Blades, who has been capped in One Day Internationals and T20 Internationals, has been drafted in as cover for the two Tests following the ongoing series against Nepal,” CWI. Blades is a good choice and has the potential, but will struggle with the Indian batting line-up who are very experienced.
Longest standing players in the West Indies cricket setup, allrounder Jason Holder has been in the news for not accepting the squad selection. Holder is in the middle of a T20I series in Npeal and pictured a T20I series as an excuse for remaining unavailable for the series. During the current West Indies tour, Holder has decided to not like to lose the opportunity to play red ball cricket. His absence will indeed come as a loss to the team as Holder has always been a team player and contributed and supported the team in all capacities along with with bat and ball in a more advanced role. Holder has always been able to bring the team together with his experience and may have been able to help the team in terms of lessons with their injuries.
Red ball West Indies Test squad now has to bare the brunt of playing against |vas without losing 3 of their main players in the team. Alzarri Joseph, Shamar Joseph, and, of course, 3rd being Holder will cause a lot of loss in support for the newer players to balance it out. Currently Holding the 1<sup>st</sup> number in the world test playing, seamer Jayden Seales, will need company close to the range of Jediah Blades and rest of the boys with the ball group to be able to provide a fight to the strong batters of India. Most definitely the batters will have to fill Holder position to balance out his middle position playing role in a team.
Every West Indies tour is challenging, especially to India, and this time it is their revamped squad’s ability to adapt quickly to the many obstacles that will be the main focus. India will be the most dominant team as West Indies is iconic for defying expectations, especially India on home turf. Emerging players such as Blades and Seales, who is trying to solidify his position as the leader of the pace attack, will be looking to play aggressively during the series. Despite the many adversities, fans will be expecting the West Indies to galvanize and put on a spirited strong, irrespective of the many adversities that they are bound to face.
