St John's:Romario Shepherd has been named as Dwayne Bravo's replacement in West Indies' T20 squad for their upcoming tour of New Zealand.
The 37-year-old Bravo suffered a groin injury while playing for Chennai Super Kings in the ongoing IPL 2020, which subsequently ruled him out of the tournament. The two-time T20 World Cup winner, will now return to Trinidad to continue his rehabilitation.
"I was really looking forward to the tour of New Zealand as it has been so many months since I last wore maroon in Sri Lanka back in March and we are all so excited about building towards defending our T20 World Cup next year," Windies Cricket quoted Bravo as saying.
"Unfortunately, the injury I sustained on Saturday playing for CSK has not only ruled me out of the IPL but also the tour. I'm making arrangements to return to Trinidad over the next few days where I will continue my rehab and treatment. I'm fully committed to representing the West Indies and I just need to get myself stronger again," he added.
Shepherd has played only a couple of T20Is having made his debut early this year. He was part of the Guyana Amazon Warriors team that reached the semifinal of the Caribbean Premier League, picking six wickets at an economy of 7.31.
The 25-year-old all-rounder Shepherd, made his international debut last year against Afghanistan and received his cap from Bravo himself. He has so far played five ODIs and two T20Is for West Indies.
''This is a great opportunity for me, and I want to take it with both hands. I was in the team before, last year and earlier this year, so I have a good feel of the game at this level. I've been training hard and working at all areas of my game so I'm ready," Shepherd said.
West Indies are scheduled to play three T20Is and two Tests in New Zealand. The T20 series will be played first and it starts on November 27.
Updated T20I Squad: Kieron Pollard (captain), Fabian Allen, Romario Shepherd, Sheldon Cottrell, Andre Fletcher, Shimron Hetmyer, Brandon King, Kyle Mayers, Rovman Powell, Keemo Paul, Nicholas Pooran, Oshane Thomas, Hayden Walsh Jr, Kesrick Williams(UNI)
