T20 World Cup: Sunil Narine not to be included in WI squad - Pollard

West Indies won't add Sunil Narine to its T20 World Cup squad despite the spinner's sublime form in IPL 2021, says captain Kieron Pollard.

Published : Oct 13, 2021 12:43 IST , SHARJAH

Sunil Narine has been impressive for KKR in the second leg of IPL 2021. - BCCI/IPL
Sunil Narine has been impressive for KKR in the second leg of IPL 2021. - BCCI/IPL
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Sunil Narine has been impressive for KKR in the second leg of IPL 2021. - BCCI/IPL

West Indies will resist the temptation of adding Sunil Narine to its T20 World Cup squad despite the spinner's sublime form in the ongoing IPL, according to captain Kieron Pollard.

Narine has taken 11 wickets in eight IPL matches since the league's resumption in the UAE. He took four wickets in the IPL eliminator on Monday , helping Kolkata Knight Riders beat Royal Challengers Bangalore. 

Narine has not played any international cricket since August 2019, forcing defending champion West Indies to ignore him on fitness grounds while announcing its World Cup squad.

The ICC deadline to make changes in the squad ends on Friday. 

"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," Pollard told  ESPNcricinfo .

"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."

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Pollard was, however, keen to include all-rounder Andre Russell in the squad. Russell has not played any IPL game since September 26 due to an injury.

Nothing can be said about Russell until he joins the West Indies camp. "Before I make any assumptions as to what he can or he can't do, we need to do our assessment first as a team," Pollard said.

"We haven't had the opportunity to see him. We've gotten reports as to what he has done. I wouldn't want to get into trying to say what he can or can't do at this point in time.

"He's a critical person for our team and we'd love for him to be 100 percent, but we have to deal with what's in front of us."

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