Shiv Chanderpaul appears set to be dropped for the Test series against Australia after he was left out of West Indies’ 12-member group for a pre-series training camp in Barbados.
Chanderpaul could still make it to the Test squad when the final team is decided on May 29, 2015 after the conclusion of the practice match between the Australians and the Board President’s XI. The chairman of selectors, Clive Lloyd, however indicated West Indies were keen on looking ahead.
“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.”
Chanderpaul, who has played 164 Tests and is 86 short of equalling Brian Lara’s record of highest West Indies run-scorer in Tests, was officially notified. Lloyd said that while Chanderpaul had been an outstanding servant of West Indies cricket for many years, his recent form was a concern.
“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