West Indies forced into T20 World Cup squad change by injury

Opening batter Brandon King struggled during the group stage, but looked to have found form as he raced to 23 off 13 balls against England in his team’s opening Super Eight fixture.

But King was forced to retire hurt with a side strain in a match that West Indies went on to lose by eight wickets, and the injury is significant enough for him to play no further part in the tournament for the host nation.

King will be replaced in the squad by the experienced Kyle Mayers in a move that has been approved by the ICC Event Technical Committee.

Left-handed Mayers has played 37 T20Is for West Indies, scoring at a strike-rate of 140.61 with the ability to play a number of roles across the top order.

An all-rounder in the longer format of the game, Mayers has been used sparingly with the ball for West Indies.

Mayers is expected to join up with the West Indies squad with immediate effect, with the team set to play USA in their second Super Eight fixture in Barbados before facing South Africa in their third and final Group 2 game on Sunday in Antigua.

Any replacement of a player at the T20 World Cup requires the approval of the Event Technical Committee before the player can be officially added to the squad.

The Event Technical Committee of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 consists of Wasim Khan (ICC General Manager – Cricket), Chris Tetley (ICC Head of Events), Johnny Grave (CEO, Cricket West Indies) and Kass Naidoo (Independent Representative).

West Indies Squad

Rovman Powell (c), Alzarri Joseph, Johnson Charles, Roston Chase, Shimron Hetmyer, Jason Holder, Shai Hope, Akeal Hosein, Shamar Joseph, Gudakesh Motie, Nicholas Pooran, Andre Russell, Sherfane Rutherford, Romario Shepherd, Kyle Mayers