West Indies all-rounder Jason Holder, who is ruled out of the 2024 T20 World Cup, was seen joining his team for the anthem, before their game against USA in Barbados.
Holder, who has led West Indies in all three formats, was all set to feature in his third T20 World Cup after being named in their 15-member preliminary squad.
However, an injury sustained in the County Championship while playing for Worcestershire ruled Holder out of the tournament. The West Indies Cricket Board did not reveal the nature of the injury, but they replaced him with left-arm quick Obed McCoy and named five additional reserve players.
Nice touch from West Indies to have the injured Jason Holder line up with the side at his home ground Kensington Oval during the anthem #T20WorldCup pic.twitter.com/WfA6MJctgy
— Santokie (@Santokie89) June 22, 2024
One of them – Kyle Mayers – was also brought into the main squad as a replacement for the injured Brandon King.
Ahead of West Indies game against USA, local boy Holder was given the distinction of carrying the T20 World Cup trophy out to the middle. Wearing a green tee and blue jeans, he was greeted warmly by players from both teams, posing for pictures with Nicholas Pooran, Shimron Hetmyer and the rest. The local Barbadian support cheered along from the stands.
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In a nice touch, the West Indies seemingly asked Holder to be a part of the team anthem: he stood in casual wear alongside his teammates, as "rally round the West Indies" played in the background.
Holder hasn't featured for the West Indies in Tests and ODIs since July last year, but was part of the T20I setup during their tour to Australia in February this year. He's their second highest wicket-taker in T20Is, only behind Dwayne Bravo.
West Indies entered the Super Eights unbeaten, but were beaten by England earlier this week in the second round. On Saturday, they were back to winning ways, blanking out USA by nine wickets. Roston Chase and Andre Russell took three-wicket hauls, after which Shai Hope powered them to the 129-run target with 67 balls to spare, smashing a 39-ball 82.
Now second in Group 2, they play toppers South Africa next.
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