ST JOHN’S, Antigua– Allrounder Ashmini Munisar will lead the West Indies Women’s U19 squad for the upcoming tour of India that will give selectors an idea of who they should be looking at for the World Cup, the Cricket West Indies Selection Panel said on Friday.
Minister, who led the team when West Indies Women’s U19 played against USA Women’s U19 in Fort Lauderdale in August, will have top-order batter Trishan Holder as her vice-captain for the November 13-24 tour. Holder was a member of the Barbados team at the Commonwealth Games, playing matches against Pakistan, Australia, and India.
The 15-member squad for the T20 matches was selected after trial matches in Trinidad, said lead selector Ann Browne-John.
“As part of the preparation for the tour, the squad was involved in some practice matches during a seven-day training camp in Trinidad. The last team selected contained some of the players who participated in the series in the USA, and there are some new players the panel would like to look at before a final team is selected for the World Cup,” she said.
“The team composition is balanced with strong batters and a good mix of spin and medium pacers. It will be their first experience against top international teams, and these tour matches will better indicate where the team is now.”
The West Indies Women U19 will be under the guidance of Head Coach Steve Liburd.
Their upcoming tour will feature matches against India ‘A’ Women U19, India ‘B’ Women U19 and Sri Lanka Women U19 in Visakhapatnam at the Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy International Cricket Stadium.
West Indies then travel to Mumbai, playing against New Zealand Women U19 at the D.Y. Patil Stadium.
This series in the sub-continent will form a crucial part of the team’s preparations for the inaugural ICC Under-19 Women’s T20 World Cup 2023. The global event will feature 41 matches played from January 14 to 29 in South Africa. The official warm-up matches will be from January 9 to January 11.
The 16 participating teams will play in four groups in the preliminary round. West Indies have been drawn in Group C alongside New Zealand, Ireland, and Indonesia.
FULL SQUAD: Ashmini Munisar (captain), Trishan Holder (vice-captain), Asabi Callendar, Kenika Cassar, Jahzara Claxton, Naijanni Cumberbatch, Jannillea Glasgow, Realeanna Grimmond, Zaida James, Djenaba Joseph, KDJazz Mitchell, Shalini Samaroo, Shunelle Sawh, Lena Scott, Kate Wilmott
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