Lloyd defends Bravo and Pollard's exclusion

Even as many question the logic behind the selection of the West Indies squad for the World Cup, chairman of selectors Clive Lloyd has defended the team. According to Trinidad Express, the former West Indies captain, in an interview, defended the exclusion of leading allrounders Dwayne Bravo and Kieron Pollard, stressing that the pair's omission was not victimisation and that the time was right to try something different.

Lloyd was quoted as saying that it was not the end of the road for the Trinidad and Tobago pair who he encouraged to earn their way back into the side. Asked if he was given a directive not to choose the T&T allrounder, Lloyd said: "No. I never spoke to anybody."

"Let people understand that we have been at the bottom rung of the ladder for the last eight years or more with the same players, recycling people all the time," Lloyd explained."The point is that now we tried to see if we can change things. It is obvious picking a West Indies team is not easy," he said.

He said there were two days of discussions between the selectors and the Windies ODI captain and he described the decision to leave out Bravo and Pollard as a difficult one but a necessary one. However, a lot of fans won't agree to what Lloyd is offering. Bravo and Pollard are match-winners and their experience would have helped the Caribbeans at a high-pressure event like the World Cup. Why would a team try to experiment with new players at an event like the World Cup? It seems strange. Besides, the choice of the captain also seems a bit bizarre. Jason Holder is only 23, has played just 21 ODIs and is not even the leading bowler of the team. Yet, he has been given charge of the team.

Speaking about Chris Gayle's comments saying the decision to omit the T&T pair from the World Cup side was "ridiculous", Lloyd said: "I am very disappointed with Chris that he said that because he is somebody I respect but he is not a selector."