GROS ISLET, St Lucia, CMC – West Indies will have to do without talismanic opener Chris Gayle for the second and final Test against Bangladesh starting tomorrow at the Beausejour Cricket Ground.
The left-hander was not named in the 13-man squad announced late yesterday, with Guyana left-hander Leon Johnson called up as a replacement.
A West Indies Cricket Board release said Gayle had been unavailable for selection.
“He has been given permission to deal with a personal matter,” the release said.
Gayle is one of the squad’s most experienced batsmen with 7214 runs in 103 Tests.
He scored 64 and nine not out in the recent first Test against Bangladesh which West Indies won by ten wickets.
Johnson, meanwhile, is yet to play a Test despite being on the verge of the squad in recent times.
His inclusion is the only change to the squad from the first Test.
SQUAD – Denesh Ramdin (Captain), Sulieman Benn, Jermaine Blackwood, Kraigg Brathwaite, Darren Bravo, Shiv Chanderpaul, Kirk Edwards, Shannon Gabriel, Jason Holder, Leon Johnson, Kemar Roach, Shane Shillingford, Jerome Taylor.
