Kamil Pooran's First T20I Call-Up Changes West Indies' India Plan

Dr. Annelies De Vos · 2026-09-20

West Indies just made a move that tells you a lot about where their head is at. Opening batter Kamil Pooran is in a T20I squad for the very first time, and he's heading to India as part of a white-ball tour that gets going on September 27. Shimron Hetmyer is in the T20I group too. Jason Holder? He's not in either squad. That's a lot of story packed into one announcement. ### Why Kamil Pooran Got the Nod If you watched the CPL this year, this call-up won't surprise you. Pooran piled up 273 runs in eight innings for St Lucia Kings, striking at 159.64. He also walked off unbeaten on a fifty in one match that got the Kings over the line. Cricket West Indies didn't hide the reasoning. Their release says the pick is part of a deliberate push to find and build emerging players ahead of the 2028 T20 World Cup. In other words, this isn't a one-off reward. It's a plan. Middle-order batter Quentin Sampson is another T20I prospect in the group. Jewel Andrew, who last suited up for West Indies in September 2025, made both the ODI and T20I squads. Shai Hope will captain both sides. ### Hetmyer Skips ODIs, Holder Rested Entirely Hetmyer finished CPL 2026 as the second-highest run-scorer. He won't play the three-match ODI series, though. He'll link up with the team in India for the five T20Is instead. CWI says he's still committed to West Indies, but he needs an extended recovery period after the CPL grind. Fair enough. He played the last two ODIs of the home series against New Zealand in July and made an unbeaten 69 in the fifth ODI, a match West Indies won. Holder captained St Kitts & Nevis Patriots in the CPL and has been rested. He's in neither squad. He hasn't played an ODI since July 2023, though he was part of the West Indies side for their most recent T20I assignment against Sri Lanka in June. Opener John Campbell is back in the ODI squad after recovering from a hamstring injury. Ackeem Auguste is out while he recovers from surgery done in August. ### The Schedule and What's Actually at Stake West Indies play three ODIs and five T20Is across eight cities in India between September 27 and October 18. The squad leaves home September 21 and lands in Thiruvananthapuram on September 23. Here's the part that matters most. The first two ODIs close the automatic qualification period for the 2027 ICC men's ODI World Cup. West Indies still have to play the qualification tournament early next year, because even sweeping this series won't lift them above their nearest challengers in the standings. Head coach Daren Sammy put it plainly. Playing the top team in the world lets West Indies fine-tune their ODI performances, and the series gives them a chance to assess players in new roles with 2027 in mind. ### The Full Squads **West Indies ODI squad:** Shai Hope (capt), Jewel Andrew, John Campbell, Keacy Carty, Roston Chase, Matthew Forde, Justin Greaves, Amir Jangoo, Alzarri Joseph, Shamar Joseph, Vitel Lawes, Gudakesh Motie, Keemo Paul, Sherfane Rutherford, Jayden Seales. **West Indies T20I squad:** Shai Hope (capt), Jewel Andrew, Roston Chase, Matthew Forde, Shimron Hetmyer, Akeal Hosein, Shamar Joseph, Gudakesh Motie, Keemo Paul, Kamil Pooran, Rovman Powell, Sherfane Rutherford, Quentin Sampson, Romario Shepherd, Shamar Springer. There's a quiet logic running through all of this. Rest the veterans who need it, test the young guys who've earned a look, and treat a brutal tour of India as a live audition for 2027 and 2028. It's not the flashiest approach, but it might be the smartest one West Indies have taken in a while.