BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, CMC – Ramnaresh Sarwan has been recalled to the West Indies team for the 2011 World Cup, starting on February 19 in India, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh.
Sarwan had been dropped from the side for the rain–spoilt trip to Sri Lanka late last year, following concerns about his health and his fitness.
The 30-year-old batsman has however, dispelled all questions about his health and his fitness in the last three months, following his injury-free participation in the regional One-day competition and ongoing Caribbean Twenty20 Championship.
“We have had a good look at him since then, and we think he looks fit,” said Chairman of the West Indies selection panel Clyde Butts at a news conference at Kensington Oval yesterday.
“I have also personally been to watch him train in Guyana – and there are official reports from the trainer and the territorial development officer about the training he has been doing.”
Sarwan was sidelined last May, when he pulled-up with a hamstring injury during a One-day International against South Africa in Dominica.
This followed his recovery from a back injury he sustained on the tour of Australia late in 2009.
“When you take what we said about Sarwan prior to the tour of Sri Lanka. . .we are satisfied that he is fully fit again and can play cricket again for West Indies, all things being equal,” said Butts.
The 15-member squad, which will be led by Darren Sammy, also features fast–bowling all–rounder Andre Russell. He is yet to play an ODI.
One notable absentee however, is fast bowler Jerome Taylor. He returned to competitive action for Jamaica during the ongoing CT20, following a lengthy injury lay–off, but the selectors prefer to allow him to work his way back.
Questions however, were raised about the place of Ravi Rampaul ahead of bowlers like Tino Best and Lionel Baker.
Best and Baker were among the leading bowlers for last year’s regional One-day competition, which was a qualifier for selection.
But Robert Haynes, a member of the selection panel, defended Rampaul, and said he believes his experience will prove invaluable on the sub-continent.
“Apart from the home ODI series last year against South Africa, he has been our top ODI bowler in recent matches,” said Haynes.
“And we believe, we have to give him a chance to prove himself at the World Cup. We all agreed that Best and Baker and others have improved tremendously and have been bowling really well, and we have been saying, as selectors, we believe in giving players a run.”
Haynes noted: “We are in a rebuilding process. It is not just about picking who we should play. We have to look to the future as well, and it is very important for us as selectors to identify players.
“We have to look at things over a longer period, and putting things in place to build towards the next World Cup. We didn’t just want to pick players that would give us a good chance of winning this World Cup, but have players that we could probably retain for the next World Cup.”
The squad also features Chris Gayle, Dwayne Bravo, and Kieron Pollard. The three players all turned down central retainer contracts from the West Indies Cricket Board.
Though they are all missing from the ongoing CT20 to play in the T20 Big Bash in Australia, they all played in the regional one-day competition last year, which qualifies them for selection.
Squad:
Darren Sammy (captain), Adrian Barath, Carlton Baugh Jr, Sulieman Benn, Darren Bravo, Dwayne Bravo, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Christopher Gayle, Nikita Miller, Kieron Pollard, Ravi Rampaul, Kemar Roach, Andre Russell, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Devon Smith
