West Indies’ ICC Men’s T20 World Cup ambitions have suffered a blow, with star all-rounder Fabian Allen ruled out of the tournament.
Allen has been withdrawn from the squad due to an ankle injury and been replaced in the 15 by Akeal Hosein, following approval from the Event Technical Committe.
In turn, Hosein will be replaced on West Indies’ reserves list by Gudakesh Motie.
Sitting 16th on the MRF Tyres ICC T20I bowling rankings and 17th for all-rounders, Allan’s presence will be missed by West Indies.
Alongside a T20I bowling average of 27.05 and economy of 7.21, he also has a batting strike rate of 138.88 and average of 17.85, while being a firm contender for the title of the world’s greatest fielder.
Motie joins Darren Bravo, Sheldon Cottrell and Jason Holder on the reserves list.
As a left-arm finger-spinner, Hosein was the closest to a like-for-like replacement for Allan.
The 28-year-old has played 15 matches – six T2I0s and nine ODIs – for West Indies to date and across 57 T20s has averaged 26.33 with an economy of 6.33 with the ball.
He will get his first chance to impress in Wednesday’s warm-up match between West Indies and Afghanistan, where he could feature alongside Hayden Walsh jr.
Like both Allan and Hosein, Motie is a left-arm finger-spinner who can be handy with the bat. The 26-year-old is yet to play for West Indies.
West Indies start their tournament on 23 October against England.
-ICC Men’s T20 World Cup