Gayle skips training session but no problem

SYDNEY: West Indies captain Jason Holder on Thursday played down Chris Gayle’s absence from training on the eve of the team’s crunch World Cup Pool B match with South Africa at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
Gayle, who has a chronic back complaint, hit the highest-ever individual World Cup score of 215, containing a record-equalling 16 sixes, in Tuesday’s thumping win over Zimbabwe in Canberra.
Holder said 35-year-old Gayle was being nursed through the tournament to ensure he was in the best possible shape to play.
“In terms of Chris’s fitness, obviously he’s been struggling over the past with his back. So we’re trying to monitor him as best as we possibly can,” Holder told reporters at the SCG.
South Africa skipper AB de Villiers laughed off talk about Gayle’s absence from training.
“He doesn’t train often. I played with him in Bangalore, and you don’t often see him in the nets,” he told reporters.
“His body is quite old for his age, I think. He needs to look after himself to make sure he gets on the path with all the games.”
Gayle said he has had the back injury since January last year and was managing it.
“It’s the same back injury. I’ve had it since last January. It can’t seem to be solved, to be honest with you,” he said this week.
“It’s a bit of a mind thing. I try and do a lot of massage. I’m a person that likes to go to the gym, and I’ve been restricted from that for a couple of months, as well.”
Holder said he was getting to grips with the leadership role.
“Every day I would say it gets better. Obviously, we have our difficulties inside the dressing room,” he admitted.
“I think the guys are really coming to terms with me being captain.
He said left-arm spinner Suleiman Benn was recovering from back trouble which kept him out of the Zimbabwe match and could feature on the normally spin-friendly SCG pitch.
“We just monitored him yesterday and scans showed there was no real damage towards his back,” he said.