Relieved at Gayle’s absence: Raina
June 5th, 2011 - 8:30 pm ICT by IANSPort of Spain, June 5 (IANS) India’s stand-in-skipper Suresh Raina says he was relieved that explosive opener Chris Gayle would not be playing the opening matches during their tour of the West Indies.
Gayle is embroiled in a bitter dispute with the West Indies Cricket Board, which has summoned him to a meeting to discuss his critcism of the selectors and the board during a highly publicised radio interview last month.
“To be honest yes I’m a bit relieved at the moment,” Raina was quoted as saying in the Newsday here.
The West Indies lost the sole Twenty20 match of the series to India by 16 runs at the Queen’s Park Oval here Saturday. The five-match One-day International (ODI) series begins here Monday.
Gayle was the leading scorer with 608 runs in the recent Indian Premier League and played a key role in Royal Challengers Bangalore reaching the final.
West Indies captain Darren Sammy said too much has been made of the absence of Gayle, and said his side had shown that they can be competitive without him.
“It’s an opportunity for all the other guys to perform,” Sammy said. “We won a Twenty20 and a Test match against Pakistan.”
“We have managed to draw the series at home against a higher-ranked team. The guys represented the West Indies proudly and played their best. We are looking again to do well.”
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- Sammy hopes to carry winning momentum into Test series - Jul 24, 2012
- West Indies arrive for series against India - Nov 03, 2011
- West Indies eye series win against Black Caps - Jul 05, 2012
- India face confident West Indies in fourth ODI - Dec 07, 2011
- Sammy says team work key in absence of big names - May 04, 2012
- Windies begin final preparations for World T20 - Sep 01, 2012
- No Chris Gayle in West Indies squad for India - Nov 01, 2011
- Sammy says Windies must back up 'favourites' tag - Sep 02, 2012
- West Indies bring back Darren Bravo for T20 World Cup - Aug 23, 2012
- Windies switching gears for Twenty20 series against Australia - Mar 27, 2012
- Afridi blames Pak batsmen for T20 loss against Windies - Apr 23, 2011
- Sammy plays down idea of second frontline spinner - Jul 25, 2012
- Kirk Edwrds defends Sammy, calls him a fighting cricketer - Dec 25, 2011
- West Indies eyeing first clean sweep in ten years (Preview) - Aug 02, 2012
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