The provisional 15-man squad, which will travel for all the five matches – to be played from August 3 and 13 – will be trimmed to a squad of 13 for each game before a final XI is picked.
Haynes added that some other players could “come into consideration going forward” depending on performances in the CPL starting on August 17.
Hope, the West Indies ODI captain and star batter in the format, also returned after over a year, having last played a T20I in February 2022 in India. He has played only 19 T20Is, striking at 121.11 with a poor average of 17.88. His last T20 was in the previous PSL for winners Lahore Qalandars.
Among the returnees, Thomas’ absence was the longest. He had been out of the T20I set-up since December 2021. To add to that, he has not played any cricket since December 2022, when he featured in the Lanka Premier League for Kandy Falcons. He has been part of the ODI squad against India but didn’t play in the first two games.
These five T20Is against India will be played across the Caribbean and the USA. After the series starts in Tarouba on August 3, Providence will host two games on August 6 and 8 before the teams fly to Lauderhill in Florida for the last two games on August 12 and 13.
West Indies squad for T20I series against India: Rovman Powell (capt), Kyle Mayers (vice-capt), Johnson Charles, Roston Chase, Shimron Hetmyer, Jason Holder, Shai Hope, Akeal Hosein, Alzarri Joseph, Brandon King, Obed McCoy, Nicholas Pooran, Romario Shepherd, Odean Smith, Oshane Thomas