Chris Gayle Named Vice Captain for West Indies Ahead of World Cup 2019

West Indian batting powerhouse Chris Gayle will be serving as the second-in-command to skipper Jason Holder. The West Indies cricket board (WICB) announced the decision earlier today that Galye will be the vice captain for the World Cup 2019 in England and Wales.

The 39-year old former captain will be making an appearance on the field in his fifth World Cup/ Chris Gayle has had an incredible career, amassing over 10,000 runs in 289 one-day internationals for the Caribbean side.

“As a senior player it is my responsibility to support the captain and everyone else in the team,” Chris Gayle admitted to the press in a Cricket West Indies statement.

“This will probably be the biggest World Cup, so there will be great expectations and I know we’ll do very well for the people of the West Indies.”

However, the World Cup will not be the only tournament the Windies will appear in. Ahead of the World Cup, West Indies are up against Bangladesh and Ireland in a Tri-series. For that, wicketkeeper/batsman Shai Hope was named the vice captain. Hope has played in 50 ODIs and has notched up five centuries to his name.

The two-time World Cup champions kick off their World Cup campaign later this month on May 31. Their first opponents will be Pakistan and the venue for the showdown will be at Nottingham.

A few other IPL stars are also in the squad, like Andre Russell, Nicholas Pooran, Oshane Thomas, Evin Lewis and Shimron Hetmyer. Surprisingly, the likes of Kieron Pollard and Dwayne Bravo missed out on a slot.

Coming back to Chris Gayle, being 39 years old, it may be his final World Cup. So, the big question is, will the big West Indian powerhouse have a swansong?

West Indies squad: Jason Holder (c), Chris Gayle (vc), Andre Russell, Ashley Nurse, Carlos Brathwaite, Darren Bravo, Evin Lewis, Fabian Allen, Kemar Roach, Nicholas Pooran, Oshane Thomas, Shai Hope, Shannon Gabriel, Sheldon Cottrell, Shimron Hetmyer