St. John’s (Antigua): The West Indies Cricket Board has intensified its preparations with the aim of qualifying directly for the ICC ODI World Cup 2027. Hosts West Indies have announced their strong 15-member squad for the upcoming home ODI series against Sri Lanka. The biggest and shocking news in this team selection is the return of explosive middle-order batsman Shimron Hetmyer. Apart from Hetmyer, the main fast bowler of the Caribbean team, Alzarri Joseph has also fully recovered from his back injury and is back in the team.

Hetmyer returned to ODI team after a year

Explosive batsman Shimron Hetmyer played his last ODI for the Caribbean team against England in June last year. After this, due to poor form and other reasons, he was dropped from the last three ODI series against Pakistan, Bangladesh and New Zealand. Hetmyer will join the team before the last ODI match.

Hetmyer’s bat flourished in the recently concluded T20 World Cup, where he scored 248 runs at a staggering strike rate of 186.46. However, his performance while playing for Rajasthan Royals in IPL 2026 was quite ordinary, where he could score only 78 runs in 7 matches.

Bowling attack became stronger, these 4 players were discharged

Fast bowler Alzarri Joseph, who was away from international cricket since the Australia tour due to his lower back injury, is now back fully fit. Along with him, young fast bowler Shamar Joseph and dangerous spinner Gudakesh Moti have also returned to the ODI team.

On the other hand, the selectors have shown the door to four big players to balance the team. Alec Athanaz, Romario Shepherd, Johan Lane and Khary Pierre have not got a place in the team from this series.

Complete schedule of the series and World Cup race

This bilateral series between West Indies and Sri Lanka will start from June 3 at Sabina Park in Jamaica. The three ODI matches will be played on June 3, 6 and 8 respectively. After this, both the countries will face each other in a three-match T20 series and then a two-Test series in Antigua.

This series is very important for the Caribbean team as they are currently ranked 10th in the ICC ODI rankings. Apart from hosts South Africa and Zimbabwe, the top-8 ranked teams will get direct entry in the 2027 ODI World Cup. West Indies may have lost 5 of their last 6 ODI matches, but their record at home is unmatched, where they have won four consecutive ODI series since 2023.

West Indies final team for Sri Lanka series:

Sai Hope (captain/wk), Shimron Hetmyer, Shamar Joseph, Alzarri Joseph, Gudakesh Moti, Sherfane Rutherford, Akeem Auguste, John Campbell, Casey Carty, Roston Chase, Matthew Forde, Justin Greaves, Aamir Jangu, Jayden Seales and Shamar Springer.