Daily Times

Left out of the initial squad of 15, Kieron Pollard and Dwayne Bravo have been added as reserves to the Jason Holder-led West Indies side for the World Cup beginning May 30. While Pollard is coming off a successful IPL campaign with champions Mumbai Indians, Bravo had retired from international cricket in October last year. The reserves, and there are ten players, will be part of a four-day camp in Southampton from May 19 to 23, and will play a warm-up game against the defending champions Australia on May 22 at The Rose Bowl.

Apart from Pollard and Bravo, all-rounders Sunil Ambris and Raymon Reifer have also been asked to stay back after their tri-series in Ireland. Ambris is expected to be cover for Evin Lewis, while Reifer will help ease out the pressure on the bowlers. “The choice of players in the reserve list is to really cover our bases and ensure we have a good balance in the pool of players that can be selected if replacements are required. We think the skill-set in this pool is strong, with a good blend of experience and upcoming young players who can be ready to contribute if and when required,” Robert Haynes, the interim chairman of selectors, said. Some of the West Indies players were busy with the IPL and missed out on the tri-series with Bangladesh and Ireland.

CWI CEO Johnny Grave though believes the training in Southampton and the extra warm-up game will help the side work together and get used to the conditions before the tournament kicks off on May 30. “Due to the commitments and promises made, to both our players and the BCCI, this is the first time that our entire World Cup squad can get together since the IPL finished,” he said. “We are confident that these additional five days of training and the extra warm-up game will mean that our players will be ready to perform at their best in our opening match against Pakistan on 31 May.”

West Indies World Cup squad:

Jason Holder (c), Chris Gayle, Kemar Roach, Darren Bravo, Andre Russell, Shai Hope, Sheldon Cottrell, Evin Lewis, Shannon Gabriel, Carlos Brathwaite, Ashley Nurse, Shimron Hetmyer, Fabian Allen, Oshane Thomas, Nicholas Pooran. Reserve player list:

Sunil Ambris, Dwayne Bravo, John Campbell, Jonathan Carter, Roston Chase, Shane Dowrich, Keemo Paul, Khary Pierre, Raymon Reifer, Kieron Pollard.