St John’s, Antigua: Chris Gayle was named in the West Indies’ squad for the 2019 World Cup qualifying tournament on Thursday, but other leading players ruled themselves out in order to play in the Pakistan T20 Super League.

All-rounders Kieron Pollard and Andre Russell, spinner Sunil Narine and batsman Darren Bravo have all decided to miss the qualifiers in Zimbabwe, which will run from March 4-25.

Darren Bravo’s older brother Dwayne, a former captain, was not considered for selection.

The West Indies are having to face qualifying after slipping to ninth in the ODI world rankings, with two teams from the qualifiers to join the world’s top eight countries at the 2019 tournament in England and Wales.

The West Indies play their opening game against a World Cricket League Division Two team on March 6 in Harare, before also facing Papua New Guinea, Ireland and the Netherlands in Group A.

Agence France-Presse