West Indies recall Chris Gayle for one-off T20I vs India at Jamaica

Chris Gayle will be in international T20 action for the West Indies for the first time in over a year, as they host India in the one-off T20 on July 9 at the Sabina Park in Jamaica.

West Indies recalled Chris Gayle for the first time since he helped the Caribbean side in winning the ICC World T20 2016 last year, for the one-off T20 against India on July 9. Apart from Gayle, the Caribbean side has also sought the services of Sunil Narine and Kieron Pollard.

Chris Gayle is being recalled to the West Indies side for the first time since last year’s World T20 in India.(IDI via Getty Images)

While Narine had played for the West Indies against Afghanistan last month, Pollard was last seen in West Indies colours during their T20I series against Pakistan a few months ago.

Gayle, on the other hand, had last played in the final of the ICC World T20 2016 against England in Kolkata.

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After helping his side win the tournament for the record second time, the burly and explosive batsman had indicated that he might have played his last match for West Indies, as the issues between the players and the formerly-named West Indies Cricket Board (now Cricket West Indies) were at their lowest point.

Gayle’s inclusion means the journey is not over for the left-handed batsman who remains a hot property in the T20 format. Gayle had smacked an unbeaten 100 against England at the start of the World T20 2016 to help his side get off to a flier.

Adding Gayle — who is West Indies’ leading run-scorer in T20Is — bolsters the batting further which has the likes of Marlon Samuels, Evin Lewis, Carlos Brathwaite (captain), and Kieron Pollard, to name a few.

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The one-off T20I will be the last assignment for the Indian team in the Caribbean, as it follows a five-match ODI series which is currently tilted in the favour of the visitors 2-1. With one more game left in the series, West Indies will fancy equalling it before heading into the T20Is.

India and West Indies had played a two-match T20I series in Florida last year. While the West Indies clinched a narrow one-run win in the first game, the second match was interrupted by rains and was subsequently abandoned.

The one-off T20I will be played on Sunday, July 9 at the Sabina Park in Jamaica.

West Indies squad for one-off T20I vs India: Carlos Brathwaite (c), Samuel Badree, Ronsford Beaton, Chris Gayle, Evin Lewis, Jason Mohammed, Sunil Narine, Kieron Pollard, Rovman Powell, Marlon Samuels, Jerome Taylor, Chadwick Walton (wk), Kesrick Williams.

India squad: Virat Kohli (c), MS Dhoni (wk), Shikhar Dhawan, Kedar Jadhav, Dinesh Karthik, Ajinkya Rahane, Rishabh Pant, Yuvraj Singh, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Kuldeep Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar.