Dwayne Bravo, Pollard axed from World Cup party?

PORT-OF-SPAIN: The West Indies have reportedly left out Kieron Pollard and Dwayne Bravo, two of their most sensational limited-overs players, from the 2015 World Cup squad. Bravo had led a rebellion over payments last year during a tour of India and may be paying a price for that.

A leading cricket website quotes Dinanath Ramnarine, former West Indies leg-spinner and ex-president of the players' association, saying both Bravo and Pollard were sidelined. "Confirmed Bravo and Pollard are both out of the 2015 WC," Ramnarine said on his personal Twitter account on Thursday.

The West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) is expected to officially name the squad over the weekend.In December, Clive Lloyd's selection panel dropped the trio of Bravo, Pollard and Darren Sammy from the five-match ODI series against South Africa, starting on Jan 16. Jason Holder, an inexperienced fast pacer, replaced Bravo as the ODI captain.Former skipper Sammy was also added to the squad.

Ever since the West Indies pulled out of the India tour midway (with an ODI, a T20 and three Test matches remaining) due to a dispute over wages, a change in ODI leadership was inevitable. Bravo led the fight against the WICB and shot out several letters voicing the players' concerns. Meanwhile, former West Indies Test fast bowler Michael Holding reckoned the players were being punished by the administrators for no reason.

What was appalling for him was how a player like Bravo, who had made it in the ICC ODI team of 2014, could not find a place in the West Indies World Cup squad.Published in Dawn January 10th , 2014