Samuel Badree, the legspinner, has been ruled out of the two-match T20 series against Sri Lanka with dengue fever. Devendra Bishoo, also a legspinner, will replace him in the squad.

"Badree was named in the original 15-man squad for the two-match series but is unavailable due to illness," a WICB release said.

Badree had contracted dengue fever in the Caribbean and did not fly to Sri Lanka alongside T20 team-mates Darren Sammy, Kieron Pollard and Dwayne Bravo. Bishoo, a member of both the Test and ODI squads, will remain with the team until the end of the tour. Bishoo played in both Tests, but has not featured in either of the ODIs so far.

Badree's absence is a substantial loss for West Indies. He is the top-ranked T20 bowler in the world, and had also been instrumental during West Indies' victorious 2012 World T20 campaign in Sri Lanka, maintaining an economy rate of 5.56 across four matches. Bishoo, meanwhile, has not played a T20 international since September 2011.

The first T20 s set to be played at Pallekele on Monday.

(espncricinfo)