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West Indies’ tour here was thrown into turmoil Thursday after leg-spinning all-rounder Hayden Walsh Jr tested positive for COVID-19, less than a week before the start of the three-match one-day series.

Stand-in Test captain, Kraigg Brathwaite, sees himself as a critical figure in the two-Test series starting next month, and has no plans on shirking the massive responsibility before him.

Phil Simmons has urged players on the tour of Bangladesh not to see themselves as replacements but to seize the opportunity to cement spots in the international side.

West Indies’ Test and one-day contingent will be subjected to a robust testing regime after they arrived Sunday for their five-week series, becoming the first international side to tour Bangladesh since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Exciting fast-bowling all-rounder, Romario Shepherd, has tested positive for COVID-19, and has been replaced in the West Indies one-day squad for Bangladesh by uncapped pacer Keon Harding.

Former Test batsman, Daren Ganga, believes West Indies players needed to exercise more faith in the judgement of Cricket West Indies instead of pulling out of the tour to Bangladesh.

West Indies Test captain Jason Holder has been included in a 22-man Barbados Pride provisional squad announced Monday by the Barbados Cricket Association, in preparation for next month’s Regional Super50 Cup in Antigua.

Cricket West Indies says it has no hard feelings towards players who have declined selection for the tour of Bangladesh, saying the global COVID-19 pandemic had resulted in “unprecedented times and unprecedented conditions”, under which to play cricket.