Chris Gayle has been announced, as West Indies captain for three one-day internationals and two Twenty20 matches against England amidst controversy between the selectors and the cricket board.
The 27-year-old Gayle takes over from Daren Ganga who was acting as stand-in captain in the absence of Ramnaresh Sarwan in the current test series.
West Indian all-rounder was the choice of selectors, but the Cricket Board was not in favor of Gayle’s appointment as captain. But, when the selectors threatened the cricket board to resign, the decision went in favor of Gayle.
Gayle has played 168 one-dayers, would be assisted by the most prolific run scorer for the Windies, Shivnarine Chanderpaul as his vice-captain, who is currently the most senior player with 217 one-day appearances in the side.
The choice of Gayle was a forced one, as injured Sarwan was already ruled out for a considerable time for his shoulder injury that forced him miss third test against England. Ganga who captained the side in the third test was not considered in the playing eleven for the ODIs, therefore the selectors had no other name but Gayle as their choice.
Ganga has been replaced by Austin Richards Jr., a left-handed batsman from Antigua. The other faces that missed out the test series are all-rounder Dwayne Smith and opener Lendl Simmons, who both played in the recent World Cup.
The team is to play two Twenty20 Internationals at the Oval in London on June 28 and 29. The first one-dayer begins at Lord’s on July 1, second one at Edgbaston on July 4 and third and final ODI will be played at Trent Bridge on July 7.
West Indies has been badly beaten in the two of the three tests played so far. However, before the ODIs begin, the Caribbean players have a chance to salvage their lost pride in the test matches with fourth and final test beginning on Friday. England leads the test series 2-0.
West Indies squad for the ODIs: Chris Gayle (captain), Shivnarine Chanderpaul (vice captain), Dwayne Bravo, Fidel Edwards, Runako Morton, Daren Powell, Denesh Ramdin, Ravi Rampaul, Austin Richards Jr., Darren Sammy, Marlon Samuels, Lendl Simmons, Devon Smith, Dwayne Smith.
Via: Scotsman
