Gayle left out of upcoming T-20 and 2 ODIs

St John’s (Antigua): The West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) has decided to drop batsman Chris Gayle from the squads announced for the lone Twenty20 and the first two one-dayers against India starting from June 4.

“Chris Gayle will not be considered for selection to the West Indies team before an intended meeting with himself, the Selection Committee, the WICB Management and the West Indies Team Management,” the WICB said in a statement. “The Selection Committee views this meeting as necessary as a result of Gayle’s comments in a widely publicised radio interview in Jamaica.”

Gayle, who was recently ignored for the series against Pakistan, has had a massive war of words with the WICB after claiming that he was left to fend for himself during recent injury problems. An angry WICB retorted by saying that the batsman was well-looked after and it was he who kept the Board uninformed while flying out to India to play in the IPL.

The 31-year-old Gayle was the star of the recently-concluded Twenty20 league, finishing as the top-scorer with 608 runs, including a couple of hundreds. However, even this destructive form could not fetch him a place in the two national sides to be captained by Darren Sammy.

Pacer Kemar Roach has been rested for the lone Twenty20 and the first two ODIs in Trinidad. Roach will, however, be available for selection for the third ODI of the five-match series.

PTI