Narine, Mohammed picked for India ODIs

The Trinidadian duo - top-order batsman Jason Mohammed and unconventional spinner Sunil Narine - were the new faces in West Indies' 15-man squad for the five-match ODI series in India. Legspinner Devendra Bishoo and fast bowler Fidel Edwards were the notable omissions from the side.

Both Mohammed and Narine did well in the recent Regional Super50 limited-overs competition, paving the way for their inclusion. Mohammed was Player of the Tournament in addition to getting the Richie Richardson Trophy after topping the run-charts with 227 runs in five outings. Narine rose to prominence during the Champions League Twenty20 tournament in India where his mystery variations earned him 10 wickets at the impeccable economy-rate of 4.37 runs per over. He then claimed the Curtly Ambrose Trophy for being the top wicket-taker in the Super50, and was picked for the A-team unofficial Tests against Bangladesh.

"In the Super50 Jason showed maturity, guts and fight in the way he batted on some difficult pitches," WICB selector Robert Haynes said. "He scored vital runs to pull his team out of difficult situations, scored the most runs in the tournament and as selectors we also thought that with the pitches in Guyana not being very different to the pitches in India and Jason having done so well on those types of surface, it augured well for his selection to the ODI squad."

Haynes also said that Narine's steady progress over the past year earned him a spot. "Sunil bowled well in the Indian conditions in Champions League for Trinidad and Tobago and then in the Super50 he was exceptional," Haynes said. "Batsmen have difficulty reading him and we thought that he is deserving of his selection to show his worth against international batsmen.

"He is also a capable lower-order batsman who can give the team 30 to 40 runs and overall we are impressed with the way he approaches batting both for Trinidad and Tobago and in the recent West Indies A match in St Lucia."

Darren Sammy will lead West Indies in the series, which kicks off on November 30 in Cuttack. Chris Gayle continued to miss out on selection, while Dwayne Bravo, who was dropped on form for the Bangladesh tour, was also left out.

Squad: Darren Sammy (capt), Adrian Barath, Darren Bravo, Danza Hyatt, Anthony Martin, Jason Mohammed, Sunil Narine, Kieron Pollard, Kieran Powell, Denesh Ramdin (wk), Ravi Rampaul, Kemar Roach, Andre Russell, Marlon Samuels, Lendl Simmons