Windies

Cameron hoped to be in competition for the top spot, along with former ECB Chairman Colin Graves, Singapore’s Imran Khwaja, who is currently serving as the interim ICC chair, and Greg Barclay of New Zealand.

Graves was thought to be the favorite for the post but failed to attract enough votes to stay in contention. With the deadline expiring on the weekend, the position is now set to be contested by Barclay and Khwaja.

Recent reports suggest Barclay – an outsider up to now but a director of New Zealand Cricket since 2012 – already has the backing of India, England, and Australia but will still require 11 votes out of the 16 ICC board members with voting rights to prevail.

The ICC has outlined that the nominees must be either a former or current ICC board member.  The USA Cricket Hall of Fame had asked CWI to nominate Cameron, 49, as chairman but the proposal found no favour.  His name was not among the nominees after the deadline closed.

"I reached out to certain people but did not hear anything from them, so I guess that it is safe to state that I was not nominated by anyone for the post seeing that the process that now closed,” Cameron told T&T Guardian.

CWI vice-president Dr. Kishore Shallow also confirmed the board did not nominate Cameron.

According to Shallow: "It did come up for discussion and we did not nominate anybody for the post."

At current, there are no cricket leagues around the world that require players to be vaccinated in order to take part in a competition.  However, with the risk and expense attached to the current model of staging tournaments in a biosecure environment and increasing evidence of the positive effect of vaccination on preventing the spread of the virus, there is no guarantee things will stay the same.

At current, a few members of the squad have taken the vaccine, but some remain hesitant at this point in time.  Mansingh pointed out that it was the duty of the medical team to educate the players on the risks and benefits of getting vaccinated but, at the end of the day, the freedom to make individual choices had to be respected.  He speculated, however, that the choices could plausibly, in the near future, affect an individual’s ability to earn income.

“We live in a free society, and we have to respect the decisions of people.  But there may be leagues around the world who say if you are not vaccinated then we will not take you and that is when personal decisions will have to made,” Mansingh told the Mason and Guest Radio program.

“We have erred on the side of freedom of choice, etc., etc. and we will entertain the discussion but there are leagues that are going to pop up, which will not entertain the discussion,” he added.

“We allowed people to opt-out of bubbles that we knew were safe and some of the people that opted out at that time made a completely different choice when they went to India, which was the second most infected country in the world.”

2023 was a year of dominance, nothing short of phenomenal. Her performances were not just about the numbers; they were about the impact she had in turning games around and stepping up when her team needed her the most.

Matthews' batting in 2023 was a testament to her technical prowess and mental strength. She accumulated a historical 700 runs at a strike rate 132.32, the first time a women’s player had reached this figure in a single calendar year.

The highlight innings of the year was the 132 runs she scored in the historical 213 run-chase against Australia in the second T20 International (T20I) at the North Sydney Oval, this followed 99 not out in the first match. In the third T20I she struck 79 to accumulate 310 runs, the most by any player in a women's T20I bilateral series. She took on the opposition's bowlers with a mix of traditional and innovative shots. Her ability to anchor the innings and accelerate when required makes her one of the most feared batters in the T20I circuit.

Bowling-wise, Matthews was equally impressive. Her right-arm off-spin deliveries, characterized by their flight and turn, baffled many top-order batters across various teams. She picked up 19 wickets with an economy rate of 6.84.

Matthews' recognition as the ICC Women's T20I Cricketer of the Year 2023 is not just a personal achievement but also a significant boost for West Indies women's cricket. It highlights the talent and potential within the team and the region, inspiring many young players in the Caribbean islands.

“It’s nice to see all the hard work paying off. It’s been a long two or three years to get to this point, it’s been really nice to have a good time with the bat and the ball in the last year to help the team as best as I can. I am very grateful for this award and it’s something that growing up I saw my role models achieving so to win one myself definitely means a lot,” said the West Indies Women’s captain.

Matthews was also named as a member of the ICC Women’s T20I Team of the Year 2023.

CWI’s Director of Cricket, Miles Bascombe in offering his congratulations stated, “Hayley has been remarkable by any standard and has embodied leadership by example. Beyond her obvious talent, her professionalism and work ethic certainly underpin her performance and should be a source of inspiration to aspiring cricketers in the West Indies and the world over.“

As Hayley Matthews continues her journey in international cricket, her eyes are set on more victories and accolades. With the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in Bangladesh and other international fixtures on the horizon this year, Matthews is undoubtedly eager to continue her impressive form.

Insularity and some amount of bias have often been charges leveled at those who select which grounds will be picked to host international cricket on various West Indies tours.  International grounds in bigger countries have often been given the nod but Graves insists it might not be the case in the future.

“The highest crowds we experienced in this series was in Grenada.  Grenada didn’t have cricket between 2015 and 2019 and I think it is important we spread cricket around our international grounds,” Graves said.

“I think we need to do far more as an organization to promote and market to make sure all the cricket fans and even the non-cricket fans know that the West Indies team is coming to their country to play,” he added.

“I hope everyone understands that policy and we do our best to spread cricket around the region.”

With the exception of Barbados the West Indies' first tour of the new year, against Ireland, was played in Grenada and St Kitts.  The New Zealand New Zealand tour in July will be hosted in Antigua, Dominica, and Guyana, with Trinidad and Tobago, St Lucia and Jamaica.

The West Indies will be hosting a World Cup-type event for the fourth time, with the US set to make history with its first.  In addition, the 2024 edition will be the first T20 World Cup to feature 20 teams.

Based on the fixtures, approximately two-thirds of the 55 matches will be held in the Caribbean, with the World Cup venues being drawn from the 13 established international cricket grounds in the West Indies.  The United States will host the remaining one-third of the matches where they will be played at five venues.

“The CWI welcomes this historic announcement by the ICC.  It means that the Caribbean has been handed another opportunity in 2024 to host a premiere world cricket event

“We’ve done this before and I’m very sure we are going to do very well doing this again.  This time its historic because we are partnering with our neighbours from the north USA Cricket.  We know that strategic partnership has helped with accepting our bid and we must soon get to work to make this exciting historic decision a truly successful one for all concerned.”

The International Cricket Council announced last week that seven Caribbean countries, and the United States, will host matches in the prestigious tournament that began in 1975. Dominica, Guyana, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Antigua and Barbuda, Trinidad and Tobago and Barbados are the Caribbean countries selected.

Also, in an unprecedented decision, the ICC also stated that matches will also be played in Texas, Florida and New York in the United States.

According to reports, Riley, who was recently re-elected to the post of president of the Barbados Cricket Association (BCA), that he was in possession of documentation that said his country would be hosting the finals next summer.

“Based on the documents that Barbados is earmarked from Cricket West Indies and ICC to host the final, a semi-final and a number of games…”

However, speaking on the Mason and Guest sports talk show in Barbados on Tuesday night, Dr Shallow debunked those claims, saying, “Nothing has been communicated back from ICC to Cricket West Indies about the finals.”

The statement from the CWI president has left the Barbados Cricket Association with potential egg on their faces.

CWI and other cricket boards around the world have struggled to come to grips with both a drop-off in revenue and the uncertainty of surrounding fixtures that have had to be moved around for safety reasons.  With a large portion of the organisation’s revenue coming from broadcast rights, a nightmare scenario like no cricket for the rest of the year could leave the organization in dire straights and with tough decisions to make.

“Cleary that (no cricket) would have to see a significant reduction of all of our costs and salaries for playing staff and officials is clearly a part of that,” Grave said in a recent interview on the Mason and Guest radio show.

The CEO insists that while CWI are not yet forced to face that worse case scenario, the body has put together a committee to assess the organization’s options.

 “We’re in unprecedented times and everyone is in difficult situations and everyone is doing their best to protect what cash they have and keep their staff and their people paid,” he added.

“It’s very difficult to say with any degree of certainty what action we may take, but clearly the priority for us at the moment is, first and foremost, the health and safety of all our players and staff and clearly their wider communities and the countries of the Caribbean. We need to act very responsibly and in line with the government and medical advice.

“Secondly, our major priority is to try and keep all our people paid at full pay for as long as we can, but clearly there will come a point in time where that becomes not a possibility.”

The workshops were held in March and April with the main purpose of building stronger connections between all of the key regional pathway coaches as well as with the CWI High Performance team. Additionally, the workshops were geared towards providing the coaches with ongoing Coach Development opportunities to foster the best possible development environments for the talented players across the region.

The sessions included a mix of on-field and classroom sessions covering a range of topics including CWI online Athlete Management Systems (AMS), Individual Player Plan (IPP) upskilling session, batting against spin, developing tactical awareness through game sense scenarios, CWI High Performance programme insights, programme/game planning, elite talent identification and development.

 “The CWI High Performance Unit are adding to the online workshop support that was provided to the coaches last year. This year we are also providing in-tournament support in the form of face-to-face workshops and coach observations both in training and on match days," said CWI Coach Development Manager, Chris Brabazon.

"This allows us to support the growth of the individual coaches whilst also learning more about some of the aspects that may need to be explored further with our broader coaching community.”

The groups of coaches have participated in a series of online workshops in the lead up to their respective tournaments with face-to-face development engagements taking place throughout the tournament.

All workshops were facilitated by CWI High Performance Unit staff including, Jimmy Adams (CWI Director of Cricket), Graeme West (CWI High Performance Manager), Chris Brabazon (CWI Coach Development Manager), Steve Liburd and Rohan Nurse (CWI Talent Pathway Managers).

This initiative is part of CWI’s “Cricket First” strategic plan to invest in building coaching depth and quality across the region, considering the vital role coaches play in developing cricketers’ skills across all age groups and abilities. It provides coaches with opportunities to further learn and develop contemporary coaching philosophies and techniques that will allow them to thrive in the various stages of the West Indies Cricket Pathway.

The next Coach Development Workshops will take place in St Kitts during the upcoming West Indies Women’s Regional Tournaments – the CG United Super50 and the T20 Blaze.

Over the last three years, CWI has accredited over 1000 new coaches across the region ranging from Foundation Courses to Level 3.

The territorial board franchises will be convening to draft the final two players for their squads to play in the forthcoming season, which will hopefully include the CG Insurance Super50 Cup and the West Indies Championship. 

The draft will be conducted over two rounds, where each franchise must pick a player in each round. Each franchise will pick two players to add to their pre-selected squad of thirteen (13) protected players, to make a full squad of fifteen (15) players. The franchises will be selecting their two picks from a pool of nearly 100 players. 

For the 2021-22 season, each franchise will be allocated a pick number according to their final league position and performance of the franchise in the last West Indies Championship, held in 2019-20 and won by the Barbados Pride (see table below for sequence of draft picks).  Each franchise will have 90 seconds in each round to make a pick. Where a selection is not made within this time period, the franchise will miss their turn and will have to wait until all the other franchises have made their selection in that round, before making its selection.

Once the franchises have made their full picks to confirm their fifteen retained players, a total of 90 cricketers across the six franchises will be retained on full-time regional contracts for the next twelve months. 

CWI’s Cricket Operations Manager, Roland Holder said, “The draft, now in its eighth (8th) year, demonstrates that CWI remains committed to our professional cricket structure and system, even in these times of uncertainty from the COVID-19 pandemic. The ninety (90) regional players who will be awarded regional franchise contracts, will be able to train and practice professionally as CWI hopes for a return to normalcy in regional cricket later this year.”

Each choice by each Franchise selection committee will be monitored and recorded by the draft overseer (s), as notified to the Franchises by CWI.

The tour is due to feature matches in both the ongoing  ICC Test Match Championship and the ICC One-Day International Super League. The recce will be conducted by CWI Board Director, Dr Akshai Mansingh (member of the CWI’s and ICC’s Medical Advisory Committee) and Paul Slowe, CWI’s Security Manager.

While in Bangladesh, they will visit all the proposed facilities for the tour in both Dhaka and Chattogram, attend matches in the Bangabandhu T20 Cup and also get a first-hand look at the country's COVID-19 response protocols.

“We would be the first International Team to visit Bangladesh since the onset of the pandemic and, acting always with the health and safety of our touring party at the forefront of our minds, we have decided to conduct a pre-tour recce by sending two highly experienced professionals to assess the BCB’s bio-secure plans and protocols,” said CWI CEO Johnny Grave.

“Our respective medical and operations teams have held a number of positive meetings over the last few weeks and following receipt of the report from our inspection team, a recommendation will be made to our Board of Directors on whether it is safe to tour Bangladesh early next year.”

The tour of Bangladesh would be the third tour for the West Indies Men's team since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. They are presently in New Zealand for three T20 Internationals, two Test matches and two ‘A’ Team Four-Day matches. Earlier this year they visited England where they played three Test matches, in a bio-secure environment, which marked the return to the game on the international stage. The West Indies Women's team also toured England in September for five T20 Internationals.

It has been more than a year and a half since Russell last represented the West Indies in a T20 International with the 2019 World Cup marking the last time he suited up for the side.

During that World Cup Russell was unable to finish a game without treatment and seemed in real pain. He had to do knee surgery after limping out of one game, but seems on the comeback trail, having played in a number of domestic T20 games around the world.

“Hopefully, in the next few weeks he will undergo what is described by the medical team as a return-to-play protocol,” said Cricket West Indies CEO Johnny Grave.

“So he will go through a fitness test to see how his knees have recovered from the injuries that he suffered and allowing us to see if he would be passed fit medically – which is the first stage – and injury free in terms of his ability to both bat and bowl.

“He would then build up his fitness levels and hopefully through performances in the Indian Premier League (IPL) make himself available for selection for the West Indies.”

Russell is expected to turn out for the Kolkata Knight Riders when the IPL season bowls off on March 29 later this year.

Russell’s partner at KKR, mystery spinner Sunil Narine is also somebody the West Indies are keeping a close watch on.

Narine played through a finger injury during last year’s Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL), and has also, for a number of years, struggled with his action.

“He’s obviously been a player that has been a fantastic servant and player for West Indies, particularly in white ball cricket, but at this stage, Sunil is still working on his action,” said Grave.

“He obviously had the finger injury which took him out and made him struggle to bowl, and we’re hoping that he’s going to be fully fit … and be able to bowl his full portfolio of deliveries for the IPL and then fingers crossed, from the West Indies point of view, all goes well and he can follow that through into the CPL and hopefully be in form and be available for the World Cup.”

The T20 World Cup in Australia takes place in October.

Shortly after the team’s unceremonious exit from the World Cup, the hard-hitting left-hander had let on that the reason that he had not announced his retirement at the World Cup was that plans were already underway for a final farewell match.

Two weeks ago CWI Chief Executive Officer Johnny Grave stated on radio that the one-off match against Ireland would represent the perfect opportunity to honour the batsman.  Gayle was, however, later left out of the squad by the newly appointed selectors.  Skerritt insists the plan was never for the player to be picked for the match and that the CWI had not yet finalised plans for a farewell event.

"We're not defining what such a game (farewell) will look like. The planning has not yet commenced," Skerritt told Cricbuzz.

He insists, however, that the idea remained on the cards to honour the record T20 runs scorer.

"Gayle has been a phenomenal performer for Jamaica and the West Indies since he was a teenager. He deserves to be thanked and honored by fans. CWI will find the right way to make that happen in a manner that Chris can enjoy."

The Betway Group is a leading provider of innovative, entertaining and exciting entertainment across sports betting, casino, bingo and esports betting. Launched in 2006, the company operates across a number of regulated online markets and holds licences in the UK, Malta, Italy, Denmark, Spain, Belgium, Germany and Ireland. Based in Malta and Guernsey, with support from London, Isle of Man and Cape Town, the Betway team comprises over 1,500 people.

The extension will see Betway continue as the Official Betting Partner of CWI, with pitch and broadcast presence at all men’s and women’s International Home Series matches.

The partnership has been broadened so that Betway will also become the Official Betting Partner of the Colonial Medical Insurance Super50 Cup, the marquee 50-over tournament in the West Indies. Betway’s partnership will also mean continued support for CWI’s integrity and player education programmes.

“CWI is delighted to extend our relationship with Betway as one of our major partners whose support makes a real difference for the development of international and regional cricket in the West Indies,” said Dominic Warne, CWI Commercial Director in welcoming the extended partnership with Betway.

“The partnership demonstrates the appeal of West Indies cricket in terms of media visibility and content and we are excited that Betway is bringing additional support to the women’s game and the Super50 Cup too.”

Anthony Werkman, Betway CEO, highlighted the strength of the partnership and outlined why it has been extended.

“Cricket is a hugely popular sport and this deal has been the cornerstone of our entry into the game. We are extremely happy to be extending this deal which will bring us to many more fans throughout the world in conjunction with one of the most prestigious international teams,” he said.

Betway’s initial partnership with CWI started with the International Homes Series between West Indies and Sri Lanka in June 2018 and ran through to the International Homes Series against Ireland in January 2020.

  The extended partnership will include all men’s and women’s international home matches in the ICC Future Tours Programme until the end of 2022 as well as the next three editions of the Colonial Medical Insurance Super50 Cup.

The 22-year-old was last selected as part of the team’s tour to England after a solid performance in the regional four-day competition.  Da Silva led the T&T Red Force’s batting with 507 runs, a high score of 113, and an average of 50.70.

Da Silva, however, did not feature for the first-team squad, but made a good impression in the warm-up games, leading some to call for the player’s inclusion in the first team.  The player scored 133 not out in the first and 56 not out in the final practice match.  With some experience batting in New Zealand, Da Silva hopes to put in another good performance.

“I’m looking forward to learning a lot like what I did on the tour of England earlier this year. It’s really good to be playing red-ball cricket again and being back with the West Indies team,” Da Silva told West Indies Cricket.

“I played in Auckland and Queenstown … the pitches were always nice and good for batting so I’m really looking ahead to getting out there and performing,” he added.

Since making his debut against New Zealand, in December of last year, the batsman has averaged 37.62 in five Test matches, with a high score of 92.  The half-century was one of two scored by the player during the period.

Da Silva has scored 301 runs so far, his innings often providing much-needed stability at crucial times in the team’s batting line-up.  Despite narrowly missing out on a triple-figure and a few half centuries, the player admitted he was pleased with his work to date.

“I don’t think I could have been more proud of what I have done so far in Test cricket. I definitely would have wanted to convert some of those forties into fifties and that 90 into a 100, but hopefully there are going to be a lot more opportunities to do that,” Da Silva told Trinidad and Tobago Newsday.

Da Silva recently played a crucial part in the Test series draw with Sri Lanka, which saw batsmen with the upper hand for most of the series, partly due to a flat surface.

“I don’t think we could fault any bowler or batsman according to the conditions. It was quite challenging for the bowlers. Overall, I thought we had a very positive series, a lot of good things came out of it.”

The West Indies secured their series victory with a comprehensive performance on Sunday, chasing down South Africa's target of 164 with 6.1 overs to spare. This win followed earlier victories on Thursday, May 23, by 28 runs and on Saturday, May 25, by 16 runs. The series was characterized by consistent team efforts, despite the absence of key players such as Rovman Powell, Nicholas Pooran, Shai Hope, Andre Russell, and Alzarri Joseph.

In the series finale, South Africa posted 163-8 from their 20 overs, with captain Rassie van der Dussen top-scoring with 51 off 36 balls. Debutant Wiann Mulder contributed a solid 36. The West Indies’ bowling attack was led by Player of the Series Gudakesh Motie, who took 2-21, supported by Shamar Joseph’s 2-26 and Obed McCoy’s 3-39.

The West Indies’ chase was spearheaded by an explosive opening partnership of 92 runs in just 6.4 overs between Johnson Charles and interim captain Brandon King. Charles, who was named Player of the Match for his blistering 69 off 26 balls, batted at a strike rate of 265, while King added 44 from 28 balls. Kyle Mayers (36 not out) and Alick Athanaze (6 not out) comfortably saw the hosts over the finish line.

Coach Darren Sammy, who led the West Indies to T20 World Cup victories in 2012 and 2016, praised his team’s all-around performance. "With the players that we had, we executed quite well,” he told Sportsmax.TV. “We were put under pressure in the Power Play in the second game but the way the guys responded and won convincingly; we got tested in the three departments – in the field, with the bat, and the ball – and the way the guys responded was just really good, so I would give them a nine (out of 10).”

Charles expressed satisfaction with his performance after struggling in the first two matches. “It was great. We have been working hard during the camp and in the series. Worked hard on our skills leading up to the World Cup, just enforcing the basics. Tried in the first two games, didn’t work out but came today (Sunday). It’s all about building confidence,” he said.

Stand-in captain Brandon King also shared his delight at leading the team to a commanding series win. “(I was) happy with my own performance,” he remarked. “Would’ve liked to carry my bat through to the end though. We understand each other’s games, playing a few years together. (This was) an important 3-0 win.”

The Women’s ODIs form part of the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) Women's Championship, while the Tests will be part of the 2023-2025 ICC Men’s World Test Championship.

The Women’s T20 International Series will bowl off at the North Sydney Oval with two matches scheduled for Sunday, October 1st, and Monday, October 2nd, culminating with the third match at Allan Border Field in Brisbane on Thursday, October 5th.

Following the T20I Series, the West Indies Women will gear up for the ODI series, which commences on Sunday, October 8th, at Allan Border Field, before heading to Melbourne for the final two matches at the Junction Oval on Thursday, October 12th, and Monday, October 15th.

Hayley Matthews, the captain of the West Indies Women, expressed her excitement about the upcoming tour.

“We are looking forward to this opportunity to play against Australia as part of the ICC Women's Championship cycle. We look forward to putting up a strong fight, as we’ve been working hard to refine our skills and strategies. I’m sure the fans are going to see some entertaining cricket,” she said.

The West Indies Women will first be playing their next international fixtures against Ireland Women in June and July before heading to Australia, with the schedule for the Ireland Tour of the West Indies to be announced shortly.

The West Indies Men’s tour of Australia will start with the Test Series, playing for the Sir Frank Worrell Trophy, named in honor of the former West Indies captain and icon. The first Test will be played at Adelaide Oval on 17-21 January 2024. The second Test will be a day/night match using the pink ball at The Gabba in Brisbane from 25-29 January.

Following the Tests, the West Indies will play three day/night ODIs at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (Friday, February 2nd), the Sydney Cricket Ground (Sunday, February 4th) and the Manuka Oval, Canberra (Tuesday, February 6th). The three T20Is will be at the Blundstone Arena in Hobart, Tasmania (Friday, February 9th), the Adelaide Oval (Sunday, February 11th) and the Perth Stadium (Tuesday, February 13th).

MATCH SCHEDULES

Women’s Tour

1st October: 1st T20I at North Sydney Oval, Sydney

​2nd October: 2nd T20I at North Sydney Oval, Sydney (night)

​5th October: 3rd T20I at Allan Border Field, Brisbane (night)

8th October: 1st ODI at Allan Border Field, Brisbane

​12th October: 2nd ODI at Junction Oval, Melbourne

​15th October: 3rd ODI at Junction Oval, Melbourne

Men’s Tour

17th-21st January: 1st Test at Adelaide Oval, 10.00am

25th-29th January: 2nd Test at Gabba, Brisbane (day/night)

2nd February: 1st ODI at MCG, Melbourne (day/night)

4th February: 2nd ODI at SCG, Sydney (day/night)

6th February: 3rd ODI at Manuka Oval, Canberra (day/night)

9th February: 1st T20I at Blundstone Arena, Hobart (night)

11th February: 2nd T20I at Adelaide Oval, (night)

13th February: 3rd T20I at Perth Stadium, (day/night)

By her normal standards, Dottin has had an average start to the tournament with the bat, scoring just 43 in two matches.  An abundance of caution in regard to a recent shoulder injury also means the player has not bowled a lot of overs either.  Despite that, however, Dottin has a knack for showing up when her team needs her.

On Wednesday, with England off to a solid start in pursuit of a below-par West Indies score of 225 for 6, Dottin flew high, at full stretch and with one hand, to pluck a hard cut shot from opener Laura Winfield-Hill out of the sky and give the team a crucial breakthrough.

In the team’s first match, against New Zealand, with the hosts needing just six in the last over Dottin, who had not bowled for the whole match, demanded the ball and promptly took two wickets and effected a run out to secure a dramatic win for the team.

“Deandra is one of the persons that set a high standard for herself in whatever aspect of the game she plays…I think that was a crucial moment in the game,” Mohammed told members of the media.

“Deandra is a game-changer, whether it is with bat or ball or in the field.  It was a spectacular catch and I know we can expect more from Deandra.”

So far, the big West Indian has been left viewing from the bench in this season’s Indian Premier League (IPL).  In the meantime, Kings IX have struggled to one win and three losses.

The reasons for Gayle’s but breaking into the line-up is not as easy as it seems.  Despite his absence, KXIP has managed to put 200+ totals on the board in two of the four matches they have played. With the likes of Rahul and Mayank Agarwal at the top, Punjab has both the centurions of this IPL at their disposal, and hence the need to have Gayle in the team hasn’t really been felt.

The only player Gayle can come in the team for, at the moment, is his countryman Nicholas Pooran who has been batting at the No. 3 spot. Pooran’s fielding exploits, however, make it hard for the KXIP management to remove him from the team.  Rahul, however, remains convinced the West Indies will make an impact.

"It's been a lot of fun playing with Chris. Not just (that) I have played two seasons with him at KXIP, I have played with him at RCB as well.  I have known him for a good 6-7 years.  As a youngster, I did speak with him a lot and I was looking at him as an opening batsman.  How destructive, powerful, and how intimidating he is,” Rahul told TimesofIndia.

 “I try to learn a lot from him (Gayle). We share a good friendship and that’s what came out in the middle in the last two seasons.  He is somebody who is such an impact player, such a match-winner for whatever team he has played.  Like I said he is very intimidating and takes down the opposition on a given day.  He can destroy any bowling attack.”

However, instead, the experience changed him for the better.

“The last time I was here was very tough for me, but it was a series that really changed around my career. I was young, in unfamiliar territory and I really didn’t cope very well with it, to be honest,” he said.

“But since then, I’ve been able to go away and learned a lot from my experience of here last time. I consider myself a different player to what I was three years ago. In England, batting will always be a challenge, but I think I’m ready and up for that.”

He has set himself targets that he believes has prepared to achieve on the tour in which the first Test bowls off at the Aeges Stadium in Southampton on July 8.

“I would love to score a Test hundred in England, it’s always a challenge but I think if you’re going to rate yourself as a player you have to be able to do it and I think, I’ve been putting in enough work to actually come up with something in this series,” he said.