West Indies test captain, Jason Holder, and nine other players have withdrawn from the Bangladesh tour over COVID-19 fears.

Cricket West Indies (CWI) had earlier made it known that players have the opportunity to pull out of games due to COVID-19 safety reasons, explaining that doing so would not impact future selections. Other players that opted out include Kieron Pollard, Roston Chase, Darren Bravo, Shamarh Brooks, Sheldon Cottrell, Evin Lewis, Shai Hope, Shimron Hetmyer, and Nicholas Pooran. Two other players, Fabian Allen and Shane Dowrich were unavailable due to personal reasons.

All of these players are among the first XI of the West Indies team. Kraigg Braithwaite would take Holder’s place as Test captain while Jason Mohammed would lead the ODI squad, in Pollard’s absence. Bravo and Hetmyer also declined to go to England back in June over coronavirus concerns.

Shayne Moseley would be making his debut in the Test squad. Moseley had followed them to tour England and New Zealand as a reserve player.  Another player starting for the first time is Kavem Hodge. Kyle Mayers is another player that would be joining the Test squad for the first time. Mayers played his first T20I in New Zealand this year.

Akeal Hosein and Kjorn Ottley would feature in the ODI squad for the first time. Roger Harper, who is the chief selector of CWI hinted that the absence of more experienced players in the ODI squad allowed the inclusion of Ottley to the team. He also said that even though key players were missing, he expects the best from the team and for the players to prove that they belong to the level.

West Indies would arrive in Bangladesh on January 10. The tour, which would run from January 18 to February 15 would feature three Tests and three One-Day Internationals (ODIs). The Test matches would come up before the ODI games.