WI vs NZ: Shimron Hetmyer, Keemo Paul, Gudakesh Motie ruled out of ODI series

West Indies team has suffered a massive blow as three of their players are ruled out for the ODI series against New Zealand. The left-hander Shimron Hetmyer, who’s not in a good form lately, decided to opt out because of personal reasons. Meanwhile, Keemo Paul is ruled out with an injury while Gudakesh Motie is yet to recover from his hand injury.

The Caribbeans have already called up Jermaine Blackwood as Hetmyer’s replacement. Even though he regularly features in Test cricket, this is for the first time since 2015 that Blackwood has been called up in the ODI set-up. Leg-spinner Yannic Cariah has also been called up to replace Motie. The 30-year-old was playing well for West Indies A and was deservedly called to the main team.

Desmond Haynes, the chief selector of Cricket West Indies (CWI) announced the following changes and also stated that Odean Smith is also added to the squad as a reserve. He stated that Smith’s performance in the T20Is helped him to get a spot in the ODI set-up.

“Hetmyer has to attend to a family matter in Guyana. Unfortunately, Motie is not yet able to rejoin the squad and Keemo is struggling with an injury. However, it provides an opportunity for Yannic Cariah to get a chance. He is someone that has been performing well on the regional circuit and we feel now is the right time to integrate him into the senior team set-up,” said the former cricketer.

It’s now or never for the Caribbeans

With just eight wins and 13 losses so far in the ODI Super League, West Indies’ chance of directly qualifying for the next year’s World Cup looks thin at the moment. With 80 points in their bag, they are currently sixth in the table and thus the series against New Zealand remains to be an important one for them.

With countries like India, Australia, South Africa and Sri Lanka behind them, they might find it very difficult to finish in the top eight. Especially when there are a lot of matches left for the other countries to play. Captain Nicholas Pooran is hopeful for a positive result in the series and said that the team is together as they face a tough challenge from New Zealand, who are yet to lose a match in the ODI Super League. 

“The pressure has been on from the beginning to try and win cricket games but this team has been together for a while now,” said captain Nicholas Pooran. “We knew that this series was for points. The pressure, I don’t think we are looking at it from that perspective, in terms of we have to win and must get points. The guys know what’s at stake here and we know what we have to do to be successful,” he added.