Carlos Brathwaite, Devendra Bishoo and Jason Holder among those released by WICB

The West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) has released five players in the light of the upcoming Caribbean Premier League (CPL). Five players contracted by the WICB were released to go and play in the upcoming edition of the CPL which is set to start on June 30, four days after the final of the ongoing tri-series, involving Australia and South Africa. Carlos Brathwaite, Jason Holder, Davendra Bishoo, Darren Bravo, and Denesh Ramdin are among those released by the board.

Reports suggested that the final call on releasing the players was taken by the selectors with the coach Phil Simmons raising no objection whatsoever. However, the condition put forth by Simmons was that the released players return in time to prepare for the Test series against India.

The Chief Executive of the CPL, Damien O’Donohoe stated that he was indeed happy with the decision and that the addition of these players would certainly add value to the tournament on the whole.

“Our thanks to the West Indies Cricket Board, coach and chairman of selection committee for facilitating the release of the players for the opening weeks of the CPL,” he said. “It’s a tremendous boost for the competition and I have no doubt that each of the players will be motivated to add great value to their squads.

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As per the agreement signed between the players, the released players will be permitted to stay with their respective CPL franchises until the 11th of July. After this, they will have to join up with the rest of their Test squad to prepare for the upcoming Test series against India at home. The first Test is scheduled to be played on the 21st of July at Antigua.