New Delhi, April 1 (H.S.): Kraigg Brathwaite has resigned from the captaincy of the West Indies Test team. Brathwaite led the team for four years. Meanwhile, Shai Hope has been named the new captain of the West Indies T20 team. Cricket West Indies (CWI) announced this information on Monday.
32-year-old Brathwaite was appointed Test captain in March 2021, replacing Jason Holder. On the other hand, Shai Hope, who is already the captain of the ODI team, will now take over the leadership of the T20 team in place of Rovman Powell, who has been the T20 captain since May 2023.
CWI's head coach Darren Sammy stated in a release on the board's X (formerly Twitter) account, The decision to appoint Shai Hope as captain was made keeping in mind the team's development and the upcoming 2026 T20 World Cup.
Under Brathwaite's captaincy, the West Indies recorded several historic victories. Last year, under his leadership, the team achieved its first Test win against Australia in Brisbane in 27 years. Earlier this year, they recorded a historic win in the Test series against Pakistan, equaling the series—a feat that hadn’t happened in 34 years.
His captaincy saw the West Indies win a home Test series against England in 2022, while they won a Test series 2-0 against Bangladesh in 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic.
CWI stated in a release, Brathwaite wanted the team to have enough time for a transition before his departure. Therefore, he resigned ahead of the home series against Australia to give the new leadership team a chance to establish itself.
Brathwaite has played 98 Test matches, and the upcoming series against Australia will be special for him as he approaches his 100th Test.
CWI said, We express our gratitude to Kraigg Brathwaite for his contributions and leadership capabilities. The announcement of the new Test captain will be made soon.
West Indies’ upcoming schedule
The West Indies will play a home Test series against Australia in June-July, marking the start of the new ICC World Test Championship (WTC) cycle.
Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar
