Florida, Aug 2 (IANS): The interim selection panel of Cricket West Indies has named Jason Mohammed as the replacement for Andre Russell for the first and second matches of the three-match Twenty20 International series.

Mohammed (32) has so far played nine T20 internationals and has also captained the West Indies in T20 internationals and the 50-over format.

Russell was named in the original 14-member squad for the first and second matches to be played in the US subject to him passing a fitness assessment prior to the series.

The all-rounder experienced some discomfort while playing in the GT20 tournament in Canada and informed the interim selection panel of his unavailability for the upcoming series.

The West Indies are the reigning ICC World T20 champions and will face India at the Broward County Stadium in Florida on Saturday and Sunday. The final match of the series will be played in Guyana on Tuesday.

"We welcome Jason Mohammed into the squad for the first two T20 matches here in Florida. He is a player with a lot of experience in all three formats and has done well for Trinidad & Tobago as well as for Guyana Amazon Warriors," said Floyd Reifer, the interim head coach of the West Indies.

"It is not easy to the fill the shoes of someone like Andre Russell, who has dominated T20 cricket all over the world and helped the West Indies win the ICC T20 World Cup on two occasions. We believe Jason is capable of good performances and we back him to perform at this level and win games as well," Reifer added.