Gayle, Bravo and Sammy question ODI selection

KINGSTON, Jamaica: Chris Gayle, Dwayne Bravo and Darren Sammy have questioned the selection of the West Indies One-day International (ODI) squad for the tri-series involving Australia and South Africa in June.

They expressed surprise at Kieron Pollard and Sunil Narine being in the squad despite not meeting what they considered to be one of the WICB’s criteria for selection — playing West Indies’ domestic 50-over competition.

Gayle, Bravo and Sammy did not play the Nagico Super50 in January because they were playing the Big Bash League in Australia at the time. Pollard and Narine also did not participate in the Nagico Super50, though.

Pollard was injured during the Ram Slam T20 in South Africa in November last year and only regained fitness in time for the 2016 IPL, and Narine was not allowed to play because his bowling action had been declared illegal. He was cleared to bowl by the ICC only in April.

In a series of tweets and retweets, the players who had been left out of the squad expressed their incredulity at the selection. “@KieronPollard55 & #SunilNarine selected for WI Tri-Series. How is that possible @westindies?” asked Gayle on Twitter. “WICB stop Sunil from playing super 50 and now they pick him. If @KieronPollard55 was fit he would’ve play the B Bash just like the rest of us!!”