West Indies opening batter Brandon King has been ruled out for the remainder of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup with a side strain he suffered during his team's eight-wicket loss against England in the second game of the Super Eight stage.
The Men in Maroon have roped in the left-handed opening batter Kyle Mayers as King's replacement and the former is likely to join the squad on Saturday (June 22).
King's T20 World Cup campaign came to a screeching halt when he pulled up badly while batting in the middle against England at the Daren Sammy National Cricket Stadium in Gros Islet, St. Lucia.
King was batting on 23* off 12 balls before he came dancing down the track to Sam Curran on the second delivery of the fifth over and got injured while executing a shot towards mid-off.
"The Event Technical Committee of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2024 has approved left-handed batter Kyle Mayers as a replacement for Brandon King in the West Indies squad," an ICC release read. "Mayers, who has played 37 T20Is, was named as a replacement after King was ruled out due to a side strain. Mayers is expected to join the squad on Saturday."
Mayers has aggregated 727 runs in his T20I career thus far at an average of 21.38. The southpaw has a healthy strike rate of 140.38 and has amassed three half-centuries in in the shortest international format thus far. Mayers was a part of the West Indies squad that played against South Africa in a T20I bilateral series leading into the T20 World Cup.
West Indies Squad
Rovman Powell (c), Alzarri Joseph, Johnson Charles, Roston Chase, Shimron Hetmyer, Jason Holder, Shai Hope, Akeal Hosein, Shamar Joseph, Gudakesh Motie, Nicholas Pooran, Andre Russell, Sherfane Rutherford, Romario Shepherd, Kyle Mayers
