Auckland, Nov 7 (IANS): West Indies coach Phil Simmons has said that Test captain Jason Holder is still in the reckoning for the international T20 team.

"Jason always has a chance to play T20 cricket," Simmons was quoted as saying by the ICC website.

The all-rounder was left out of the T20 International squad for the tour of New Zealand that begins later this month but recent performances in the Caribbean Premier League (CPL, where he picked 10 wickets with an economy rate of 6.63) and Indian Premier League (IPL, in which he bagged 13 wickets at an economy rate of 7.62) have strengthened his case for a place in the squad.

"Let me just clear it up here. This is an odd tour here. The T20 series finishes a day or two days before the first Test match and [Holder] being captain of the Test team, a decision was taken by us as a selection panel that Jason will not be considered for that part," added Simmons.

"Seeing that he is coming from IPL, he will have one chance to play in the four-day game before the Test match. But Jason is always in consideration for T20s. He had two good years at the CPL and now he is having a good tournament at the IPL."

West Indies begin their tour with the T20 Internationals with the first one at Eden Park on November 27. Holder will lead the team in the two-match Test series that follows.