Chris Gayle labels West Indies World Cup selection 'ridiculous'

New Delhi: After playing a whirlwind knock to lead West Indies to a world record T20 win over South Africa on Sunday, swashbuckling batsman Chris Gayle termed the exclusion of Dwayne Bravo and Kieron Pollard from the upcoming ICC 2015 Cricket World Cup squad as ridiculous.

“How can those two guys not be in the team? To me it got to be like victimisation when you look at it towards those two guys. Come on, guys. It is just ridiculous,” said Gayle.

The big hitter of the cricket ball expressed his views in the post-match conference at Wanderers.

“We don't have our strongest team without Pollard, nor Bravo. So that is actually sad for us. It is a really big blow for us to actually lose two key players, two key all-rounders as well, very good in the outfield. I don't know what's the history behind it, but it is a ridiculous selection from my point of view," the explosive opener further stated.

Both the Trinidadian players -- Bravo and Pollard -- are seniors cricketers and are proven match-winners. In limited over formats both the all-rounders could have played a crucial role in the forthcoming World Cup, scheduled to take place in Australia and New Zealand.

West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) announced the 15-member World Cup squad on Saturday. Clive Lloyd led the selection panel which picked the squad for the most coveted ICC event, starting next month.

Jason Holder will lead the side, whereas, Marlon Samuels would be his deputy.

West Indies is in Pool B and their opening match of the World Cup is against Ireland on February 16.