Enigmatic West Indies opener Chris Gayle has been left out of the squad announced yesterday for the first two One-Day Internationals against India, and will have to meet with selectors to explain recent comments before he can be considered. And his former teammates Dwayne Bravo and Kieron Pollard won’t be joining him either, in any T20 matches.
The West Indies Cricket Board, in naming the team for the first two One-Day Internationals against India next month, revealed the Jamaican left-hander would not be a part of the set-up for the double-header in Trinidad starting next Monday, and could also be in danger of not being picked for the entire five-match series.
The 31-year-old Gayle, currently in India where he has been representing Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Indian Premier League, has been at loggerheads with the WICB ever since his return from the World Cup in Asia.
He recently blasted the WICB over their indifferent attitude to his recovery from injury and his subsequent non-selection for the Pakistan series.
Speaking in a candid interview on a Jamaican radio station last month, Gayle said he had been forced to pay all of his medical bills while treating his injury in England following the World Cup, and accused the WICB of showing no interest in his fitness status.
The WICB subsequently released documents showing correspondence between Gayle and West Indies team physio C. J. Hunte.
Gayle also made other comments concerning captain Darren Sammy and coach Ottis Gibson and the WICB official said that selectors thought it best to meet with the batsman first on his return to the Caribbean, before considering him for selection.
“The WICB are very concerned about the unprofessional way the comments were made. Gayle cannot expect to make such inflammatory accusations . . . and expect to walk back into the team,” an official told CMC Sports on Saturday night.
“The selectors felt there should be a meeting with Gayle first to discuss these comments and chart the way forward.”
Gayle missed the just concluded Pakistan series after he applied for and was granted a No Objection Certificate from the WICB to play in the IPL.
The former captain’s move triggered a war of words with the WICB who said they were “disappointed” in the way Gayle handled the situation. Â
They said they were “surprised” to learn that Gayle was making arrangements to play in the IPL, especially since they believed he was still recovering from injury and attending physiotherapy sessions in Jamaica.
Gayle hit back during the radio interview, contending that the board had not checked on his fitness and had proceeded to announce the squad for the first two One-Day Internationals against Pakistan without notifying him he had been left out.
Ironically, Gayle has been in outstanding form in the IPL, smashing a record two centuries in piling up 608 runs at an average of 67, to earn the Man-Of-The-Series honour.
His form fired Royal Challengers Bangalore into Saturday’s final where they lost to Chennai Super Kings by 58 runs.
Bravo and Pollard have been making hay while the sun shines in the prestigious and high-paying IPL T20 tournament, but ironically, Bravo was only named in the ODI series against India.
The WICB made it clear, in its release yesterday, that Bravo and Pollard are not eligible to represent the West Indies in T20 format as they did not take part in the last edition of the Caribbean Twenty20.
The WICB Selection Criteria outlines that for a player to be eligible for selection to the West Indies team he must participate in the corresponding format of the game at the regional level.
Barbadian pacer Kemar Roach is being rested for the matches in Trinidad, and the WICB also noted that other players with heavy workloads would be rested throughout the series against the Indians.
