West Indies were forced into playing Dharamsala ODI

The financial dispute between the West Indies players and the West Indies players association (WIPA) had almost led to the cancellation of the fourth ODI at Dharamsala before the last-minute intervention of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) joint secretary, Anurag Thakur, salvaged the situation, according to a PTI report.

West Indies have now formally abandoned the rest of the tour and have left the BCCI searching for a replacement. Sources in the board have hinted that Sri Lanka are the front-runners to replace the men from the Caribbean Islands.

There were hints of inactivity amongst the West Indian players when they arrived at the Dharamsala ground at 1 PM. They hardly had a half-an-hour pre-match practice session and at the toss, Dwayne Bravo, was surrounded by the rest of the team, in an apparent show of solidarity.

All the drama though had happened three hours before the start of the match. The players were said to be contemplating quitting the tour ahead of the Dharamsala ODI, only to accede to the requests of Anurag Thakur, who is also the President of Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (HPCA).

Thakur persuaded Bravo and his players to compete, saying a no-show will result in an embarrassment for the organisers and to add to it, the disappointment of the fans, who came to watch a rare international game from nearby as well as far-off places.

The players relented after they were told that 'you are on your own if you decide against playing the match and HPCA is no more your host.'

"It did not seem the match would happen as late as 12 noon. The West Indies had decided to type their pull out until Thakur intervened. He spoke to the whole team including Bravo, support staff (Richie Richardson, Curtly Ambrose) and others. Everyone was sitting there," a source, who was privy to the meeting told PTI minutes before the start of the match.

"Thakur told them that all arrangements have been made, tickets are sold, people have travelled hundreds of kms to be here, so you come and play the game. Still if you have decided not to play the game, then you are on your own. I am no more a host, you are no more my guest," the source added.