Kieron Pollard not available for Pakistan tour amid injury

West indies white-ball captain Kieron Pollard will not be part of the T20I and ODI squads for the upcoming tour to Pakistan due to his hamstring injury, which he sustained during the ICC men’s t20 World Cup.

The Cricket West Indies (CWI) Selection Panel has replaced Pollard with Devon Thomas in ODIs, while all-rounder Rovman Powell will play in place of Pollard against Pakistan.

Pollard will be evaluated in a few weeks before the forthcoming home tours against Ireland and England in January 2022, under the supervision of CWI Chief Medical Officer Dr Israel Dowlat.

Nicholas Pooran will lead the squad in the T20Is now that Pollard is out. Under Pooran’s captaincy (stand-in), West Indies beat Australia 4-1 in the five-match CG Insurance T20I Series in St Lucia earlier this year. For the first time, Shai Hope will lead the team in one-day internationals. Pooran is the ODI deputy captain, while Hope is the T20I vice captain.

From December 13 to 22, the West Indies will play three T20Is and three ODIs at the Karachi National Stadium. The start times for the matches are: T20Is at 6pm local time and the ODIs at 1pm local time.

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The ODI series will be West Indies’ fourth of 12 in the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Super League, in which the top seven sides can qualify for the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup in India in 2023. West Indies are now ranked eighth out of thirteen teams and have the possibility to leapfrog Pakistan into seventh place.