27 JULY 2019 STATE OBSERVER NEWS JAMMU
West Indies opening batsman Chris Gayle has officially reversed his decision to retire from one-day internationals and been named in the 14-man squad for next month`s three-match series against India.The recent World Cup was supposed to be Gayle`s swansong, but he indicated during the tournament he would play on with an eye to breaking Brian Lara`s record for the most runs by a West Indies player in ODIs. He is 12 short of Lara`s mark of 10,405 runs.The 39-year-old Gayle had a disappointing World Cup, with just two half-centuries in eight innings, but retains the faith of the selectors.
“Chris is a very valuable player and he brings a lot of experience, a lot of knowledge, he lends a lot to any dressing room and it is great to have him in the squad,” said interim West Indies head coach Floyd Reifer.West Indies are coming off a poor World Cup, where they were expected to challenge for a place in the semi-finals but finished ninth in the 10-team event in England and Wales.“We had a number of young players in the last World Cup squad. We played some decent cricket. We were in match-winning positions, but we just didn’t win the key moments or finish off the games,” said Reifer. The ODI series against India will be played on August 8 in Guyana and August 11 and 14 in Trinidad. It will be preceded by three Twenty20 matches — two in Florida and one in Guyana.India`s tour will wrap up with two test matches, which will be part of the new World Test Championship.
