Gayle, Russell headline West Indies' World Cup squad

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New Delhi, April 25: Veteran West Indies opener Chris Gayle is set to play at a fifth Cricket World Cup after being named in his side's 15-man squad.

Gayle, 39, is 253 runs short of surpassing Brian Lara as the Windies' leading batsman in ODI cricket ahead of the tournament in England and Wales.

He is by far the oldest member of the Windies group that will be led by captain Jason Holder and includes Andre Russell, despite the IPL star playing only a sole one-day international since 2015.

Meanwhile, Evin Lewis, Kemar Roach and Shannon Gabriel are all involved, but there is no room for either Sunil Narine or Alzarri Joseph in the squad due to their respective finger and shoulder injuries.

Kieron Pollard and Marlon Samuels have also missed out.

Chairman of the selection panel Robert Haynes explained that, in Roach and Gabriel, the Windies feel they have bowlers suited to the conditions they might face.

"We are excited about the pace attack led by Kemar and Shannon," he said. "We are confident that any bowling combination we put on the park is capable of providing a serious challenge to the opposition in any conditions.

"It will be a long tournament and it will be important for the bowling attack to stay fit and healthy for us to remain competitive and make a strong push to win the World Cup."

West Indies squad in full: Jason Holder, Andre Russell, Ashley Nurse, Carlos Brathwaite, Chris Gayle, Darren Bravo, Evin Lewis, Fabian Allen, Kemar Roach, Nicholas Pooran, Oshane Thomas, Shai Hope, Shannon Gabriel, Sheldon Cottrell, Shimron Hetmyer.