Rahkeem Cornwall and Shannon Gabriel included, but Kieran Powell, Alzarri Joseph miss out
Solozano, a left-hander who played at the 2014 U19 World Cup and has represented West Indies A, made 74 off 216 balls in the second of two intra-squad “Best vs Best” matches in Antigua, with lead selector Roger Harper praising his “application, patience and composure”.
Opener has been a problem position for West Indies in recent times. John Campbell was dropped after an extended spell as Kraigg Brathwaite’s partner at the top of the order, followed by a brief experiment with Shai Hope opening and then the latest international recall for Powell, who initially came in as a concussion replacement for Nkrumah Bonner against South Africa in June.
“The Best v Best matches provided the opportunity for the players to spend some time in the middle honing their skills for this tour,” Harper said. “The aim was to simulate as much as possible, the conditions that the team will likely face in Sri Lanka, so it was good to see the batsmen spending time at the crease while putting some scores together and the bowlers looking to build pressure and create wicket-taking opportunities.
“Jeremy played for the West Indies A team in 2019 (against India A) with success and in the Best v Best matches he displayed a sense of application, patience, and composure, while looking very comfortable against both pace and spin which encouraged the panel to invest in him at this point.
“The squad is well balanced, with good depth in all departments. The composition is very similar to the squad that brought us success in our last away tour to Bangladesh, with a few changes in personnel. There are a number of players who are familiar with Sri Lankan conditions and most of the others have good experience in the Indian sub-continent, so they know what to expect and are gearing themselves for it.”
Veerasammy Permaul, who last played a Test in 2015, joins Cornwall and Jomel Warrican as the main spin options in the squad, with West Indies looking to repeat their success in Bangladesh earlier this year, where they won 2-0.
The tourists will play a four-day warm-up match in Colombo before two World Test Championship fixtures against Sri Lanka at Galle.
West Indies Test squad: Kraigg Brathwaite (capt), Jermaine Blackwood (vice-capt), Nkrumah Bonner, Roston Chase, Rahkeem Cornwall, Joshua Da Silva, Shannon Gabriel, Jason Holder, Shai Hope, Kyle Mayers, Veerasammy Permaul, Kemar Roach, Jayden Seales, Jeremy Solozano, Jomel Warrican