"He's strong, he should be in the squad" - Chris Gayle vouches for Shamar Joseph's inclusion in West Indies' plans for 2024 T20 World Cup  

Former West Indies cricketer Chris Gayle feels that breakthrough pacer Shamar Joseph is ready to be included in the short-format sides as well after a brilliant first impression. The right-arm pacer recently came into the limelight during the tour of Australia, where he was crowned player of the series after a memorable spell of 7-68, that guided the Men in Maroon to a rare Test win on Australian soil.

Shamar Joseph has been a revelation for the West Indies in red-ball cricket, with his ability to run in hard and trouble the batters with his pace. However, it can be said that he is unproven in white-ball cricket. He has played a handful of matches for the Guyana Amazon Warriors in the Caribbean Premier League (CPL), but is yet to impress, and yet to open his wickets tally.

The speedster has a huge opportunity in the form of the upcoming 2024 Indian Premier League (IPL) season, where he will be part of the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) team. The KL Rahul-led side roped in the Caribbean pacer as a replacement after Mark Wood withdrew from the tournament to manage his workload.

Despite his lack of experience in the format, Gayle feels that Joseph can be a valuable addition to the West Indies team when they play the 2024 T20 World Cup on home soil.

He's strong, he should be in the squad. We already have Alzarri Joseph, so to have the two Josephs there (will be great). Both might not play at the same time, but we would need him in this squad just in case anybody picks up an injury. It's a good headache to have for the selectors," Gayle said in an interview with Reuters.

West Indies have been brimming with positivity of late, with notable series wins over India and England on home soil. While they lost the away T20 series against Australia recently, they put up a spirited battle in the high-scoring affair that ended with the scoreline reading 2-1.

"Andre Russell back in the squad, there's some more experience in the squad in Jason Holder and Nicholas Pooran. Those guys will have a big part to play for West Indies to lift the trophy," Gayle added.

West Indies have won the T20 World Cup twice, but failed to qualify for the Super 12s stage in the 2022 edition under Nicholas Pooran's captaincy.

"Everything has changed in the game, thanks to T20 cricket" - Chris Gayle

The shortest format of the game has driven the sport to new avenues, with an inclusion in the Olympics programme being the biggest highlight of them all. T20 cricket's influence extends to other formats as well, with aggressive batting being the common theme throughout the 2023 ODI World Cup, while teams have also embraced an attacking style of play in red-ball cricket, starting with England.

"You watch Test cricket these days, it's played a bit faster than a couple of years back. Teams scoring 300 within a day with ease, that's because of T20 cricket. It's the same in 50-overs cricket. Teams can score and chase down 400 as well. Everything has changed in the game, thanks to T20 cricket," Gayle said.

Can the new-look West Indies conjur up some surprises at the 2024 T20 World Cup? Let us know what you think.