DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, CMC − West Indies one-day players arriving here over the weekend trained with the full unit for the first time on Sunday, as they fine-tuned their preparation for the start of the three-match series in Sharjah next Friday.
The contingent of left-arm spinner Sulieman Benn, batsmen Kraigg Brathwaite, Darren Bravo and Jonathan Carter, along with fast bowler Alzarri Joseph, off-spinner Ashley Nurse and wicketkeeper Denesh Ramdin, arrived here Friday to link up with the other members of the ODI squad who are contesting the ongoing Twenty20 series.
Their arrival significantly strengthens the Caribbean side for the ODI series especially after the T20 side was decorated with several inexperienced players because of the absence of key personnel due to varying reasons.
Benn, Bravo, Carter and Ramdin have played 219 ODIs between them and were all part of the side which reached the final of the Tri-Nation Series in the Caribbean last June.
Brathwaite, Carter and Joseph are yet to play a single ODI but will be still expected to boost the side. Test vice-captain Brathwaite has already played 31 Tests and nearly 100 first class matches, Carter is a seasoned domestic campaigner while Joseph, still only 19, was a member of the ICC Youth World Cup-winning squad earlier this year and has since made his Test debut.
The seven players were involved in a training camp over the last couple of weeks in Barbados, alongside West Indies A who take on Sri Lanka A in a limited overs and four-day series starting next month.
All-rounder Jason Holder, who is yet to feature in the T20 series, will lead the ODI side for the series which will also see games in Sharjah on October 2 and in Abu Dhabi on October 5.
SQUAD − Jason Holder (captain), Sulieman Benn, Carlos Brathwaite, Kraigg Brathwaite, Darren Bravo, Jonathan Carter, Johnson Charles, Shannon Gabriel, Alzarri Joseph, Evin Lewis, Sunil Narine, Ashley Nurse, Keiron Pollard, Denesh Ramdin, Marlon Samuels.