Nicholas Pooran cannot wait to have Shimron Hetmyer back in the team

The West Indies will be playing India at home in a three match ODI series, followed by a five match T20I series in the next couple of weeks. The first ODI will take place in Port of Spain on Friday (July 22nd), as the West Indies look for some revival in the 50-over format after a thrashing 3-0 defeat against Bangladesh last week.

While speaking to the media ahead of the first ODI, West Indies’ white-ball captain Nicholas Pooran revealed that he is looking forward to Shimron Hetmyer's return to the side. 

Shimron Hetmyer, who has not made any international appearance for the West Indies since November 2021, is one player that captain Pooran is waiting to see in the maroon colors soon.

"Obviously, I would love for him to be in this ODI series,” Pooran said on Thursday.

“He has been doing a lot of work on his fitness and that is really nice to see, the effort that he has been putting in.”

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Hetmyer wants to play for the West Indies, says captain Pooran

The Guyanese left-hander has been training with the West Indies squad in Port of Spain. Head coach Phil Simmons said earlier that he is not available for the selection for the ODI series. 

Hetmyer is still a work in progress as the 25-year-old is currently training under the coaching staff on his fitness. Captain Pooran claimed that Hetmyer’s priority is still to play for the West Indies. 

"He wants to play for the West Indies. The trainers and the coaches are working with him, so expect him to play sooner or later. I think he has a fitness test to pass shortly and so he's preparing for that,” Pooran concluded.

Hetmyer already missed a lot of international games in the past few months, having failed to make it to the West Indies’ recent squads because of fitness issues. With the kind of form he was in with the bat while playing for Rajasthan Royals in the IPL earlier this year, his addition to the West Indies’ middle will do a lot of good for the men in maroon. 

As Pooran said, we might see Hetmyer back for the West Indies sooner rather than later. If he passes the fitness test ahead of the five match T20I series against India, it will be a big boost for Pooran and co ahead of the T20 World Cup in Australia, later this year.