India captain Suresh Raina said he was relieved that Chris Gayle would miss the opening matches of his side's tour of the Caribbean
India captain Suresh Raina said he was relieved that Chris Gayle would miss the opening matches of his side's tour of the Caribbean.
Gayle has been embroiled in a bitter dispute with the West Indies Cricket Board, which has summoned him to a meeting to discuss comments he made during a highly publicised radio interview last month.
Raina
"To be honest yes I'm a bit relieved at the moment," said Raina on the eve of Saturday's Twenty20 international which opens the six-week tour of the Caribbean.u00a0 Gayle was the leading scorer with 608 runs in the recent Indian Premier League, where he helped Royal Challengers Bangalore reach the final. The Bangalore outfit were beaten by Chennai Super Kings.
The issue of Gayle's place in the team has overshadowed West Indies preparations for the series. Their coach Ottis Gibson, whose approach has been the source of dissatisfaction for Gayle, as well as fellow senior batsmen Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Ramnaresh Sarwan, has defended himself. "There is a lot being said," said Gibson.
"I have left the Board to deal with it, and have tried to focus on cricket. I have been doing that since the Gayle issue started."
Hope
Gibson felt that Gayle would still take part in the series, once he attends the meeting with the WICB, and all sides have a chance to air their grievances. West Indies captain Darren Sammy said: "It's an opportunity for all the other guys to perform. We won a Twenty20 and a Test match against Pakistan. We have not done it since 2009, and didn't win for 17 Tests.
"We have managed to draw the series at home against a higher-ranked team. The guys represented West Indies proudly and played their best. We are looking again to play a team and do well."
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