Sunil Narine back as WI revamp ODI squad

Sunil Narine

ESPNcricinfo: Offspinner Sunil Narine has been included in the West Indies squads for the ODIs and T20Is in Sri Lanka in October, after having opted out of their 2015 World Cup campaign because of issues with his action. There were eight changes from the squad that travelled to Australia and New Zealand: Chris Gayle was out of both squads after having a back surgery, but Darren Sammy, Lendl Simmons, Sulieman Benn, Sheldon Cottrell, Nikita Miller, Kemar Roach, and Dwayne Smith were omitted from the ODI set up.

The players included in the ODI squad were: Devendra Bishoo, Jermaine Blackwood, Carlos Brathwaite, Andre Fletcher, Jason Mohammed, and Ravi Rampaul. Narine and Darren Bravo, withdrawn from the World Cup squad, made comebacks. Bravo, who had injured his hamstring during that tournament, was also in the T20I squad.

Allrounders Dwayne Bravo and Kieron Pollard continued to be kept out of the ODI set-up, a decision that was revealed beforehand by Phil Simmons, who was later suspended as West Indies coach for saying there had been outside interference in the selection of the squad. Both players, however, were included in the T20I squad.

The selectors dropped a lot of the players who fared poorly in the World Cup, where West Indies struggled during the group stages and were beaten heavily by New Zealand in the quarterfinal.

Allrounder Smith made only 93 runs in six matches during the World Cup and was hardly used as a bowler, while batsman Lendl Simmons scored 173 in five innings, of which 102 came in the defeat against Ireland. Allrounder Sammy also had an ordinary tournament - 177 runs in five innings and only one wicket in 28 overs. Simmons and Smith were also missing from the T20I squad, having been part of West Indies’ previous Twenty20 matches in South Africa before the World Cup.

Fast bowler Roach and left-arm spinner Benn played three matches each in the World Cup. Roach took only one wicket and went for 6.81 runs an over, while Benn claimed two and conceded 6.34 an over. Miller, another left-arm spinner, played only the one game in the tournament, while fast bowler Cottrell had sat on the bench throughout the campaign. Cottrell and Benn were also cut from the T20I squad.

Rampaul, a fast bowler, made a comeback in both formats after not even being included in the list of 30 probables for the World Cup; his last game for West Indies was during the aborted tour of India in October 2014. Legspinner Bishoo has not played an ODI or T20I for West Indies since October 2011, while wicketkeeper-batsman Fletcher has not played an ODI since May 2010. Allrounder Mohammed, who bowls part-time offspin, has played only one ODI, in December 2011.

Blackwood has not yet made his ODI debut, while Brathwaite had been left out of the World Cup squad after playing the preceding series in South Africa in January. Brathwaite, however, was dropped from the T20I squad after having been part of the tour to South Africa. Offspinner Ashley Nurse was the other player dropped from the T20I squad.

The four other players included in the T20I squad after missing the matches in South Africa were legspinner Samuel Badree, fast bowler Jerome Taylor, and batsmen Jonathan Carter and Johnson Charles.

Narine has not played international cricket since he was reported for a suspect action during the 2014 Champions League T20 and barred from bowling for Kolkata Knight Riders in the final of that tournament. He underwent remedial work and was included in West Indies’ World Cup squad, but pulled out of the competition to give himself more time to work on his action. Narine once again ran into trouble with his action during the 2015 IPL after the World Cup, and was given a final warning, though sanctions during the CLT20 and the IPL are not applicable to international cricket.

The limited-overs leg of the tour of Sri Lanka comes after the two-Test series and begins with the first of three ODIs on November 1. West Indies will be coached by the selector and former fast bowler Eldine Baptiste, after Phil Simmons’ suspension.

ODI squad: Jason Holder (capt.), Devendra Bishoo, Jermaine Blackwood, Carlos Brathwaite, Darren Bravo, Jonathan Carter, Johnson Charles, Andre Fletcher, Jason Mohammed, Sunil Narine, Denesh Ramdin, Ravi Rampaul, Andre Russell, Marlon Samuels, Jerome Taylor.

T20I squad: Darren Sammy (capt.), Samuel Badree, Darren Bravo, Dwayne Bravo, Jonathan Carter, Johnson Charles, Andre Fletcher, Jason Holder, Sunil Narine, Kieron Pollard, Denesh Ramdin, Ravi Rampaul, Andre Russell, Marlon Samuels, Jerome Taylor.