Narine, Russell, Pollard, Darren Bravo pick PSL over WC Qualifiers
Sunil Narine, Andre Russell, Kieron Pollard and Darren Bravo have opted to skip the World Cup Qualifiers in March to play in the Pakistan Super League. The development was revealed by Cricket West Indies, which released the 15-man squad for the qualifiers scheduled to be played in Zimbabwe from March 4 to 25.
Ten teams will contest the qualifiers with two going through to join the top eight-ranked nations for the 2019 World Cup, to be played in England from May 30 to July 14.
Jason Holder will lead the West Indies squad which, chairman of selectors Courtney Browne said had the right mix of "experience and youth." Chris Gayle and Marlon Samuels are two senior-most members of the 15-man squad, which also sees the return of allrounder Carlos Brathwaite, fast bowler Kemar Roach and legspinner Devendra Bishoo from the group that played in the ODI series in New Zealand, which West Indies lost 3-0.
Holder had said recently that West Indies would treat every match as a "must-win" game, keeping in mind the "magnitude" of what was at stake for them. Critics then are bound to question if this is the best ODI squad to represent West Indies solely because some of the best limited-overs players - Narine, Pollard and Russell - are not part of the squad.
Browne stated all four players said their "priority" was to play in the PSL, which runs parallel to and beyond the qualifiers. The PSL, in its third year, will be played from February 22 to March 25. "We contacted some of our well-known senior cricketers to ascertain their availability for the tournament and we are pleased that Chris Gayle and Marlon Samuels have indicated their full support and commitment to the cause," Browne said in a media release. "Kieron Pollard, Sunil Narine, Darren Bravo and Andre Russell, however, indicated that they were unavailable to help us qualify as their priority was playing in the Pakistan Super League."
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