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RED FORCE spinner Akeal Hosein and top-order batsman Kjorn Ottley will make their long-awaited West Indies (WI) One-Day International (ODI) debut at the tour of Bangladesh which bowls off from January 10 until February 15.
The Trinidad and Tobago pair was selected by the Cricket West Indies (CWI) selection panel, on Tuesday, and are scheduled to play three ODIs in Dhaka and Chattogram, Bangladesh.
Hosein welcomes his first-time call-up to the senior regional squad, having previously represented the WI Under-19 in a quadrangular tournament in India (2011) and then once more in the World Cup the next year.
“It’s always a great feeling to be able to be selected to represent the WI. For me, this is a big achievement and something I’ve been looking forward to. Just happy feelings and I’m looking forward to making the trip,” he said.
The 27-year old’s last major performance came at the 2020 Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) in August, in which he played an integral role in carrying Trinbago Knight Riders to victory.
He plays with Queen’s Park Cricket Club and, like most regional players, has been anticipating the long-awaited call to earn his first maroon cap.
For the upcoming tour, the WI are scheduled to play three ODIs and two Tests.
The two Test matches will form part of the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) World Test Championship, and the three ODIs are the first matches in West Indies ICC World Cup Super League campaign with the opportunity to qualify for the ICC World Cup 2023.
Hosein welcomes the challenge to perform at the highest level.
“As for every player, it’s just to go out there and do your best. As Pollard (Kieron) would say, it’s just another game of cricket. Yes, you want to do your best, and it’s a big stage. There may be some butterflies involved. But I just want to go out there and enjoy the game. Hopefully, once I do that, everything will take care of itself in terms of selection and whatnot,” he added.
“I would think every cricketer in the Caribbean is working towards going the full distance and representing the WI. We all tend to want to play outside (international) but I think our ultimate goal, firstly, is to be able to put on that maroon cap.”
During the CPL, Hosein, like all other participating cricketers and staff, had to abide by strict covid19 guidelines set out by organisers to limit players’ physical movement in and out of the “bio-secure bubble” which was set up at the Hilton Trinidad.
The left-arm spinner, however, was not selected to take part in similar tours taken on by the WI team which travelled to England and New Zealand in the latter half of 2020.
With the recently selected squads scheduled to fly en route to Bangladesh, on January 10, to undergo similar quarantine restrictions, Hosein believes he would be able to adjust to the sport’s new normality.
“I won’t say there would be a lot of adjusting, because we’ve been going through that for a while now. We went through it with CPL. But having said that, it’s not something that’s easy on players. It does get frustrating and very difficult to deal with. But we have to make the adjustments until better could be done,” he said.
TT Red Force’s Jason Mohammed was selected to captain the ODI team for the three-match series. Mohammed first captained the regional team back in 2017 in the final ODI against England in Southampton after skipper Jason Holder returned home for a family funeral.
Youngster Joshua Da Silva, who made his Test debut against New Zealand at the recent tour, also earned a call-up to both the ODI and Test teams.

WI ODI TEAM : Jason Mohammed (captain), Sunil Ambris (vice-captain), Nkrumah Bonner, Joshua Da Silva, Jahmar Hamilton, Chemar Holder, Akeal Hosein, Alzarri Joseph, Kyle Mayers, Andre McCarthy, Kjorn Ottley, Rovman Powell, Raymon Reifer, Romario Shepherd, Hayden Walsh Jr.

FULL TOUR SCHEDULE
January 10: West Indies arrive
January 18: One-day warm-up match, BKSP, Savar
January 20: 1st ODI, SBNCS, Dhaka
January 22: 2nd ODI, SBNCS, Dhaka
January 25: 3rd ODI, ZACS, Chattogram
January 28-31: Four-day warm-up, M.A. Aziz Stadium, Chattogram
February 3-7: 1st Test Match, ZACS, Chattogram
February 11-15: 2nd Test Match, SBNCS, Dhaka
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