Narine misses World Cup cut for fitness reasons

EXPERIENCED off-spinner Sunil Narine was not considered for selection for the West Indies team for the forthcoming ICC T20 World Cup in the United Arab Emirates and Oman for fitness reasons.

The 33-year-old Narine has not played for the West Indies since the India tour of the West Indies in 2019.

But he has been a key part of the Trinbago Knight Riders (TKR) bowling attack during the 2021 Caribbean Premier League (CPL) in St Kitts, with a haul of 11 wickets at an average of 13.90, an economy rate of 4.78 and a strike rate of 17.4.

During a Zoom media conference on Thursday, shortly after the West Indies’ World Cup squad was announced, chief selector Roger Harper said, “Any team would miss a bowler of that quality, (but) he did not meet our fitness criteria.”

Harper added that Narine failed to pass a yo-yo test, hence his non-selection.