Pollard and Darren Bravo back for West Indies, Gayle unavailable

FILE PHOTO - West Indies batsman Darren Bravo (C) hits past Australian bowler James Pattinson during their third cricket test at the SCG in Sydney, -REUTERS

Reuters: West Indies welcomed back batsman Darren Bravo and all-rounder Kieron Pollard to their limited-overs squad but opener Chris Gayle has decided to skip their series in India and Bangladesh, Cricket West Indies has said.

Bravo, whose stance and bat swing is modelled on his illustrious cousin Brian Lara, returns to the West Indies side after a two-year gap for the three Twenty20 Internationals in India.

Pollard, famed for his six-hitting prowess, will also return after a year out to join the Twenty20 team for the three-match series beginning in Kolkata on Nov. 4.

“We will be without our stalwart, Chris Gayle, for this Indian tour and the next tour against Bangladesh as he has declined selection at this time...” Courtney Browne, Chairman of the selection panel, said in a statement late on Sunday.

Gayle, 39, is currently busy with the Afghanistan Premier League and will subsequently feature in the T10 league, also in the United Arab Emirates.

“However, he has made himself available for the selection for the visit of England to the Caribbean and the CWC (Cricket World Cup) in 2019,” Browne added.

All-rounder Andre Russell was also named in the Twenty20 squad to be led by Carlos Brathwaite but will miss the one-day series preceding the T20 matches with an injury. West Indies picked three uncapped players – opener Chandrapaul Hemraj, all-rounder Fabian Alen and paceman Oshane Thomas – for the five-match one-day series beginning in Guwahati on 21 October.

All-rounder Dwayne Bravo and spinner Sunil Narine were conspicuously absent as the rumbling player-board dispute continue to affect the team.