West Indies have no space for red-hot Narine in T20 World Cup squad

T20 World Cup
West Indies

Sunil Narine may have impressed in the IPL eliminator for Kolkata Knight Riders, but he won’t be shoehorned into the West Indies squad for the T20 World Cup.

Narine, who has been in the international wilderness since August 2019, failed to meet the West Indies selectors criteria for the T20 World Cup on the basis of fitness.

No space for Narine

West Indies skipper Kieron Pollard, whose Mumbai Indians have been eliminated from the IPL leaving him free to join the T20 World Cup camp in Dubai, was reluctant to offer an opinion on Narine.

Speaking from Dubai, Pollard said: “That has been explained. 

“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.”

West Indies won’t make Dre Russ call yet

The West Indies also have an injury concern coming out of the IPL with Andre Russell sustaining a hamstring tear in KKR’s match against the Super Kings on 26 September.

Pollard said that the West Indies camp would not comment on Russell until they were able to assess his fitness in 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%, but we have to deal with what’s in front of us. Let’s see what happens over the next couple of days. KKR have another game tomorrow and then, if they get through to the final, on Friday. When we see him as a management staff, we’ll be able to assess and ascertain what he can or can’t do, but we’re looking forward to having a fit Andre Russell if possible.”

Kieron Pollard Sunil Narine

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