Barath has been left out of the West Indies squad since Gayle’s return

West Indies opening batsman Adrian Barath announced that he was extremely pleased to see Chris Gayle back in West Indies colours after almost a year and a half.

However, with Gayle back in the ODI and Twenty20 squad, Barath has now lost his place, but said that he was not too concerned about and hoped with Gayle back in the team, the West Indies would be able to change their losing ways.

Gayle, who has scored 19 centuries in his ODI career, had not represented the West Indies since the 2011 World Cup, where the team were defeated by Pakistan in the quarter-finals.

About a month after the World Cup, Gayle got into a heated dispute with the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB), and criticised them and the team coach Ottis Gibson on a radio interview.

Gayle, was finally put back into the squad after a countless number of meetings between him and the WICB, which was set up by senior Caribbean politicians.

“We always welcome players into the set-up. He’s been in the set-up for years and everyone has respect for Chris. It’s great to have him back and he’ll lend experience to our players, we’re looking forward to having him in the set-up and everyone will learn from him,” Barath said.

Barath, also stated that with Gayle back in the team, the West Indies now had a formidable lineup, and should look to establish themselves as a big threat in the international cricket scene.

“Having Chris in our team (makes it) a really solid team. The depth in our batting – with Kieron Pollard, Darren Sammy, the Bravos (Dwayne and Darren), Marlon Samuels, Andre Russell – once we get going in the powerplay it would be difficult to say how could we not chase a big score or set one. So once we get it right, we have a good ODI team and we’re working on getting there in Tests, also,” Barath added.