Gayle, Pollard to miss NZ ODIs

Chris Gayle and Kieron Pollard will miss West Indies’ one-day series in New Zealand because of fitness issues. Gayle was sidelined following a hamstring injury sustained during the tour of India last month and Pollard, who did not travel to the subcontinent, is recovering from a knee injury.

West Indies brought batsman Kirk Edwards into the 15-man squad as a replacement for Gayle, and replaced left-arm spinner Veerasammy Permaul with Nikita Miller, also a left-arm spinner. Permaul had played two ODIs on the tour of India and took only one wicket.

Miller’s last ODI for West Indies was during the 2011 World Cup, while Edwards’ final one-day appearance was at home against India in June 2011. Edwards is currently part of the Test squad in New Zealand.

The ODI players not taking part in the ongoing Test series in New Zealand have assembled in Barbados for a week-long training camp. They will arrive in New Zealand on December 21 for the series that begins on December 26.

Squad: Dwayne Bravo (capt), Tino Best, Darren Bravo, Johnson Charles, Narsingh Deonarine, Kirk Edwards, Jason Holder, Nikita Miller, Sunil Narine, Kieron Powell, Denesh Ramdin, Ravi Rampaul, Darren Sammy, Marlon Samuels, Lendl Simmons