India vs West Indies | Chris Gayle picked for ODIs, John Campbell returns from injury

Having previously announced that he would call it curtains on his career following the World Cup, Chris Gayle had stated in a press conference during the tournament that he has changed his mind and would also play in the series against India. Turns out he was not joking as his name was present in the l14-man list that would be available for selection in the ODIs against India.

Chris Gayle is only 12 runs short of Brian Lara’s record haul of 10,405 runs by a Windies player in the 50-over format. He would be looking forward to get his name into the record books and is likely to hang his boots following the series.

Meanwhile, opener John Campbell marked his return to the team after having missed out on the recently-concluded mega event due to injury. He had looked in good touch before the tournament’s advent and had conjured up a record 179-run opening stand with Shai Hope in Dublin. All-rounders Keemo Paul and Roston Chase also made a comeback to the national squad.

As many as four players from the squad that travelled to England missed out on a spot due to underwhelming performances on the big stage. This includes pacer Shannon Gabriel, off-spinner Ashley Nurse and batsmen Sunil Ambris and Darren Bravo. Skipper Jason Holder, along with Evin Lewis, Shai Hope, Shimron Hetmyer, Nicholas Pooran, Fabian Allen, Carlos Brathwaite, Sheldon Cottrell, Oshane Thomas, and Kemar Roach form the rest of the squad.

Andre Russell was experiencing some niggles throughout the World Cup before a knee injury had effectively ended his tournament in his team’s match. He has been left out of the squad too though the selectors have picked him to play in the game’s shortest format.

The series will begin on August 8 followed by the second and third ODIs on 11th and 14th of August respectively.