Russell in Windies World Cup squad; Pollard, Narine miss out

West Indies announced its World Cup squad with Jason Holder leading the side and Chris Gayle all set to play his fifth World Cup.

On the back of a good show with the bat in the ongoing IPL, Andre Russell booked a berth in the West Indies World Cup squad.

Jason Holder will lead West Indies in the 2019 World Cup as the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) announced the squad on Wednesday evening.

Big-hitting batsman Chris Gayle will be playing his fifth World Cup as the squad comprises few big names in Andre Russell, Darren Bravo, Shai Hope and Kemar Roach.

The flamboyant Kieron Pollard and star spinner Sunil Narine missed out a berth in the 15-member squad. 

The squad was picked by the newly appointed interim selection panel, chaired by Robert Haynes, along with Jimmy Adams and West Indies' coach Floyd Reifer.

Speaking about the squad, Robert said the selection panel gave preference to combination. "The selection panel looked at the skill set of the players and the combinations. We have looked at the wickets that have been used in England in the past, players fitness and their urge to represent West Indies. We came up with a balanced team who will represent West Indies in England."

Squad: Jason Holder (C), Andre Russell, Ashley Nurse, Carlos Brathwaite, Chris Gayle, Darren Bravo, Evin Lewis, Fabian Allen, Kemar Roach, Nicholas Pooran, Oshane Thomas, Shai Hope, Shannon Gabriel, Sheldon Cottrell, Shimron Hetmyer