West Indies coach Phil Simmons has made it clear that Test captain Jason Holder is always in consideration for the regional T20 team, particularly on the back of several recent eye-catching performances in the CPL and IPL.

Holder last played for the Windies in the shortest format of the game in India last year.  Recently, however, since the resumption of cricket following an enforced break due to the coronavirus pandemic, he has put in a few notable T20 performances.  In the Caribbean Premier League (CPL), Holder was the Barbados Tridents' third-highest scorer with 192 runs in 10 matches and had a high score of 69.  He also made an impact with the ball after claiming 10 wickets, the second-most on the team.

Despite not being initially drafted to the Indian Premier League (IPL), Holder was called up to replace Mitchell Marsh by Sunrisers Hyderabad where he has made a big impact.  The player has, however, not been included in the T20 squad to face New Zealand later this month.

Simmons, however, pointed to scheduling being more of a factor than anything else for the Holder's omission.

“This is an odd tour.  The T20 series here finishes a day, two days before the Test match.  Being captain of the Test team, the decision was taken by us as a selection panel that Jason would not be considered for that part of the tour,” Simmons told members of the media via a Zoom interview on Friday.

"Seeing that he is coming from IPL now, he will have one chance to play in the four-day game before the Test match, so that decision was taken by the panel,” he added.

"Jason is always in consideration for the T20s.  He has had two good years at CPL and now he has had a good tournament at IPL.”