Windies vs England: Sunil Narine and Andre Russell to skip the ODI series

The Windies were off to a rollicking start to their series versus England, bowling them out for just 77 runs in the first innings in the first Test and are looking favourites to win the match. It was an impressive turnaround for a side which has slumped down the ranks of world cricket over decades now and even had to qualify for the ICC World Cup.

However, bad news awaited the Windies supporters amid the happy experience at the Bridgetown Test as Cricket West Indies (CWI) announced that the lethal pair of Sunil Narine and Andre Russell will miss the team’s ODI series against England. The board said that the pair will not feature in the limited-over series because they are not match-ready according to ESPNCricinfo.

Narine lacks confidence; Russell has an injured knee

The 30-year-old Narine, who is one of the brightest names in T20 cricket and plays regularly in the Indian Premier League for Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), played his last ODI in October 2016 and has informed the board that he lacks confidence in bowling a full quota of 10 overs in a game. A veteran of 65 ODIs and six Tests, Narine has virtually been ruled out of the upcoming World Cup as well.

Dashing all-rounder Andre Russell, another T20 specialist and also plays for KKR, has also cited his knee injury as a reason to skip the series. Russell has played 52 ODIs for the Windies so far but didn’t play in any one-day game since July last year.

Windies, ranked ninth in ODIs as per the ICC, will take on topper England in five-ODI series starting February 20 in Bridgetown. The 50-over series will be followed by a three-T20I series. The Windies haven’t won a bilateral ODI series since 2014 when they defeated Bangladesh 3-0. They even drew with Afghanistan a home series (1-1) in 2017.

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