Tuesday, March 02, 2010

GEORGETOWN, Guyana (CMC) -- As expected, captain Chris Gayle has returned to strengthen the West Indies side for the first two One-Day Internationals, but there is still no room for batsman Ramnaresh Sarwan and all-rounder Dwayne Bravo.

Both players, crucial to the Windies set-up, were left out of a 14-man squad named yesterday for the doubleheader here at the National Stadium at Providence later this week. Sarwan made a century for Guyana against the Windward Islands in the WICB four-day tournament last weekend, but CMC Sports understands the Windies team management are keen on further assessing the player's fitness.

The match was the right-hander's first competitive game in two months after picking up a back injury on the Test tour of Australia last December. Bravo, meanwhile, has almost fully recovered from a hand injury he sustained during the Twenty20 Big Bash in Australia earlier this year and which kept him out of the recent One-Day tour Down Under. The 26-year-old practised with the Windies team last Saturday and indications are that both he and Sarwan could be included in the squad for the three ODIs carded for St Vincent once their fitness is up to scratch.

Gayle, rested for Sunday's T20I, has returned to take his place at the top of the order, while Guyanese batsman Narsingh Deonarine has also made the squad at the expense of talented left-hander Darren Bravo. They are the only changes to the squad that crashed to a humiliating loss to Zimbabwe in Sunday's T20I. The first ODI will bowl off Thursday with the second one scheduled for Saturday. SQUAD -- Chris Gayle (captain), Adrian Barath, Sulieman Benn, David Bernard, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Narsingh Deonarine, Andre Fletcher, Nikita Miller, Kieron Pollard, Denesh Ramdin, Ravi Rampaul, Kemar Roach, Darren Sammy, Dwayne Smith.