KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC – West Indies coach Ottis Gibson yesterday reiterated that star batsman Ramnaresh Sarwan had not been discarded from the team set-up but needed to take his fitness seriously in order to be selected.
Speaking at a media conference here, Gibson said while the selectors would continue to provide assistance to Sarwan, the 30-year-old right-hander had a responsibility to ensure his own fitness especially as a professional athlete. Sarwan, a veteran of 83 Tests, was dropped for the upcoming three-Test tour of Sri Lanka starting next month.
“Sarwan’s non-selection did not all revolve around performance because we know that Sarwan performs when he’s fully fit. It came down to if Sarwan is going to be available for all the cricket we need to play,” Gibson told reporters.
“Sarwan has had a programme long before now with regards to his fitness, and giving Sarwan another programme is not an issue.
“Sarwan will be spoken to again by the chairman of selectors and probably told again exactly what he needs to do get himself back on track as regards to the West Indies team.”
Last month, the West Indies Cricket Board identified the Guyanese batsman’s poor fitness as the reason for not offering him a central retainer contract.
Injury forced him out of the second Test on the three-match tour of Australia last December and then aggravated the injury, and missed most of the first class championship season.
