Edwards to miss first two India ODIs

St. John's:

West Indies have named a 13-man squad without Fidel Edwards for the first two one-day internationals against India this coming Friday and Sunday at Sabina Park in Kingston.

The fast bowler withdrew from last Monday's Super Eight win over England in the Twenty20 World Cup seconds before the toss, after injuring himself in the warm-up.

It was later confirmed that the problem was an irritation of a nerve root in his lower back.

Edwards did not play on Friday in the semi-final at The Oval against Sri Lanka which West Indies lost by 57 runs to exit the competition.

West Indies officials have given no clear indication about how long Edwards is expected to be out of the game with the injury.

The selectors have rewarded Darren Bravo, the younger brother of all-rounder Dwayne Bravo, with his maiden call for West Indies, after a season of consistent scoring for his native Trinidad & Tobago in domestic competition.

The left-hander is the only new member of the squad, and his batting style has drawn more than a passing comparison to that of his fellow Trinidadian and West Indies batting legend Brian Lara.

The younger Bravo scored 605 runs at an average of 43.21 in nine matches of the West Indies domestic first-class competition this year.

The selectors have kept faith with the majority of players that formed the squad for either the previous ODI series against England in May, or the Twenty20 World Cup.

But they have overlooked batsman Lendl Simmons, as well as all-rounders Kieron Pollard, and Darren Sammy.

Squad:

Chris Gayle (captain), Denesh Ramdin (vice captain), Lionel Baker, Darren Bravo, Dwayne Bravo, Sulieman Benn, David Bernard Jr, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Narsingh Deonarine, Runako Morton, Ravi Rampaul, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Jerome Taylor.