Gayle, Roach set to boost Windies in quarter-finals

Lily

B.R
Staff member
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Dhaka: Chris Gayle and Kemar Roach are set to return to bolster the West Indies and Shivnarine Chanderpaul could be recalled to give the batting lineup some balance for today's World Cup quarterfinal against Pakistan.

Big-hitting Gayle missed Sunday's match against India with an abdominal strain, while fast bowler Roach has had a fever. Experienced batsman Chanderpaul was dropped for the losses to England and India in which West Indies' batting proved vulnerable.

West Indies captain Darren Sammy said Gayle and Roach practised well yesterday, and that Chanderpaul, a renowned but cautious run accumulator, was "most likely" to be recalled against Pakistan.

"They participated in practice today, Kemar Roach bowled and Gayle batted, and obviously everybody is in good spirits," Sammy said. "I liked the way Chris was hitting balls in the nets.

"Chris is a very committed fellow, he will do whatever it takes to put the team in a position to win. So come tomorrow, I have no doubt he will do the best thing for the team."

Big role

West Indies missed Gayle and the experience of Chanderpaul in the losses to England and India. In both matches, the West Indies put themselves into a winning positions only to slump in late batting collapses.

Now Sammy's squad faces a Pakistan team buoyed by Saturday's win over defending champion Australia.

Chanderpaul "is part of the team, he has a big role to play in the quarter-finals, most likely we will see him feature in tomorrow's game," Sammy said. "He's continued to work in the nets. We have not counted Chanderpaul out."

The return of Roach and Chanderpaul will leave West Indies selectors with difficult decisions regarding team composition.

Impressive show

Ravi Rampaul replaced Roach and took five wickets against India in his first appearance in the showcase tournament. Legspinner Devendra Bishoo came in for Chanderpaul for the last two games and performed well in both.

Sammy wasn't giving away any clues as to the makeup of today's team.

"We will assess the conditions and discuss it amongst ourselves before finalising the team," he said.

"We will put out the best possible team, which can deal with the conditions. We will come up with the best combination to go out there and win the quarterfinal."

West Indies is back at the scene of its nine-wicket win over Bangladesh in the group stage, after which its team bus came under attack from angry home fans throwing stones, apparently believing the bus carried the Bangladesh team.

"Since we've been back here, we feel loved by the people," Sammy said. "Obviously it's unfortunate what happened but we've put that behind us. We know Bangladesh people, they support cricket."

Sammy said the team would find motivation from its performance against Bangladesh, when it skittled the hosts out a mere 58.

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