AUS vs WI 2024: Kevin Sinclair? - Everything you need to know about West Indies' Test debutant

Hailing from Guyana, Kevin Sinclair made his Test debut for West Indies in the second Test against Australia at the Gabba. Former cricketer Carl Hooper handed him the Test cap as the 24-year-old replaced Gudakesh Motie in the playing XI for the day-night affair.

Ahead of making his Test debut, Sinclair has played seven One-Day Internationals (ODIs) and six Twenty20 Internationals (T20Is) for the West Indies. He is known for his off-spin bowling and can score quick runs in the lower order. In the first Test in Adelaide, the visitors struggled with the bat in the second innings and so, Sinclair’s inclusion in the playing XI was aimed at adding more batting depth to the West Indies lineup.

Notably, Sinclair made his T20I and ODI debut for the West Indies in 2021 and 2022 respectively but had to wait for a while for his red-ball call-up. With respect to his numbers for West Indies, the cricketer has 15 dismissals to his name in international cricket and has proved to be economical in ODI cricket. Meanwhile, he received his maiden Test call-up during the second Test against India in 2023, where he replaced Raymon Reifer in the squad. Even though the off-spinner didn’t play a part, he was brought into the scheme of things. 

Meanwhile, West Indies won the toss and chose to bat first in the pink ball Test against Australia. They had a poor start to the match as skipper Kriagg Brathwaite once again failed to live up to his potential. Josh Hazlewood got the better of him, as the 31-year-old got dismissed for four runs. Batting against pink ball can be proved to be difficult for the other batters as West Indies don’t have enough experience of playing Test cricket under lights. 

The goal would be to score the majority of the runs in daylight as it can trouble them during dusk and even beyond that. Australia, on the other hand, have named an unchanged XI as Cameron Green is part of the playing XI despite having tested positive for COVID-19.