West Indies vs India | West Indies name Jason Mohammed as replacement for Andre Russell
After all-rounder Andre Russell has ruled himself out of the first two T20Is against India in Florida, with the West Indies cricket board picking Jason Mohammed as his replacement. Interim head coach, Floyd Reifer, admitted that it will be difficult to fill the shoes of a player like Russell.
Russell, who returned home to undergo knee surgery in between the World Cup, turned up to play in the Global T20 league in Canada. But feeling some discomfort in his knee, he opted to inform the West Indian board of his unavailability for the first two T20Is against India. However, the all-rounder did play for the Vancouver Knights only a few hours later.
Jason Mohammed, his replacement in the squad, was warmly welcomed by Reifer.
"We welcome Jason Mohammed into the squad for the first two T20 matches here in Florida. He is a player with lots of experience in all three formats and - having done well for Trinidad & Tobago as well as Guyana Amazon Warriors," Reifer was quoted saying by Cricbuzz.
Jason has been in and out of the West Indies side since 2011, featuring in 28 ODIs and nine T20Is. However, he has a decent record at the first-class levels. The 32-year-old will hope to bring some of that form into this series.
"It's difficult to fill the shoes of someone like Andre Russell, who has dominated T20 cricket all over the world - and won the ICC T20 World Cup for the West Indies on two occasions, but we believed Jason is capable of good performances and we back him to perform at this level and help us win games a well," Reifer added.
Jason’s last T20I appearance came when he led a second-string Windies side in Pakistan last year. The Windies take on India in the first of the two T20Is in Florida on Saturday.
