“For the last 11 innings he’s averaging 16”

Image courtesy of: ESPNcricinfo

Veteran West Indies batsman Shivnarine Chanderpaul may be snubbed for the upcoming Test series against Australia after he was not included in the 12-man training squad.

However, even though the final team for the Test series will be decided on May 29, chairman of selectors Clive Lloyd has hinted that Chanderpaul will be dropped.

“This was a tough decision for the selection panel to make,” Lloyd said. “We recognise the significant contribution Chanderpaul has made to the West Indies teams over the last two decades, but we want to take this opportunity to introduce a number of young, promising players into the squad.”

Despite having represented the West Indies in 164 Tests, Chanderpaul has struggled to find some form as of late.

However, there have been calls for the 40-year-old to be included in the squad as he is 87 runs short of surpassing Brian Lara as the highest West Indies run-scorer in Tests.

“Over a period of time we’ve noticed a decline in his form,” Lloyd said. “For the last 11 innings he’s averaging 16. We thought that the time has come to look towards the younger players. That’s why he was omitted.

“I don’t think it’s just the last couple of games. It’s going way back, I watched the games against India, South Africa, and he hasn’t really done as well as we had expected.

“We just thought that here it is, we must now make a decision. We’ve made a decision. We are looking towards the younger people that we have. We have a lot of good young cricketers and we think it’s time we now inject the youth into our cricket.”

West Indies training squad: Devendra Bishoo, Jermaine Blackwood, Kraigg Brathwaite, Darren Bravo, Shannon Gabriel, Jason Holder, Shai Hope, Veerasammy Permaul, Denesh Ramdin, Kemar Roach, Marlon Samuels, Jerome Taylor