Narine won't be added to T20 World Cup
Sunil Narine has not played international cricket since August 2019 for a variety of reasons.
DUBAI (Web Desk) - West Indies will resist the temptation to parachute Sunil Narine into their squad for the upcoming men s T20 World Cup ahead of the ICC s deadline on Friday.
Narine has not played international cricket since August 2019 for a variety of reasons and missed the cut for West Indies T20 World Cup squad when it was announced last month after failing to meet the board s minimum fitness criteria.
Roger Harper, the lead selector, said at the time: "Sunil Narine is a great miss for a team like this in a tournament like this. Any team would miss having a bowler of that quality in the team but… [he] did not make our fitness standards."
Speaking from the team s base in Dubai, Kieron Pollard, West Indies captain and a close friend of Narine s, refused to be drawn further on Narine s non-inclusion but indicated that there would not be any changes to the 15-man squad, barring injury or illness.
"That has been explained," Pollard said. "If I add my two cents or my words on how his non-inclusion came about, then it could be spun - just like how he s bowling on these Sharjah wickets - in all different directions. Let s deal with the fifteen guys that we have here at this moment in time, which is more important, and see if we can rally around these guys and see if we can defend our title.
"I have no comments on that. Enough has been said on that. I think persons have explained the reason of his non-inclusion at this point in time. For me personally, I know Sunil Narine as a friend first, before an international cricketer. We grew up playing cricket together. He is a world-class cricketer."
