White-ball captain Shai Hope has been rested for the series following an extended run across all three formats. He is currently leading the West Indies in a white-ball series against India. Top-order batter Kevin Wickham has earned his maiden Test call-up to the West Indies’ 15-member squad for a two-match away series against Bangladesh, the Caribbean side’s final assignment of the 2025-27 ICC World Test Championship cycle. The Tests will begin on October 28 and November 5 in Mirpur and Sylhet, respectively.
With the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier scheduled for February next year, Cricket West Indies (CWI) is managing Hope’s workload in the lead-up to the tournament. The 23-year-old Wickham receives his first opportunity at the senior level following an impressive campaign in the West Indies Championship, where he scored three consecutive centuries, with a highest score of 153. He now has six first-class centuries from 25 matches at an average of more than 40.
“At the start of this World Test Championship cycle, we set ourselves goals, and one of them was to finish in the top half of the rankings. “Winning this series would move us closer to that goal. The full squad will arrive in Bangladesh on October 18 for a three-day warm-up match in Dhaka from October 22 to 24.
Playing Bangladesh in their own conditions will be challenging, and we’re ready for it,” head coach Daren Sammy said in a CWI statement.
