West Indies will welcome back Chris Gayle to the international fold when take on England in the upcoming five-match ODI series.

Having not played any ODIs since July 2018, Gayle was included in West Indies 14-man squad for the opening two clashes against England.

The Windies stalwart did not play any part on his team’s tour of India and Bangladesh last year after making himself unavailable. The left-hander had instead opted to play in the Afghanistan Premier League and T10 League held in the UAE.

Along with Gayle, Evin Lewis too makes a return to the ODI fold for the first two matches. Lewis had withdrawn from Windies’ tour of India last year and had played only the T20 leg in the clashes against Bangladesh.

While Gayle and Lewis have been recalled, hard-hitting batsman Nicholas Pooran has been handed his maiden ODI call-up after impressing in the eight T20s he has played so far.

Fast bowled Shannon Gabriel has not been included in the squad along with veteran Marlon Samuels who is currently undergoing treatment for a knee injury.

“As we continue our Cricket World Cup preparations, the upcoming series against the top ranked ODI side is a great opportunity for us to gauge where we are as a team,” Windies chairman of selectors Courtney Browne stated.

“We welcome the return of Chris Gayle who missed the last two series and Ashley Nurse from injury. We are pleased to introduce Nicholas Pooran to the ODI cricket for the first time. He is clearly a young player with undoubted talent and we believe he can add value to our middle order.

“Shannon Gabriel remains very much in our World Cup plans but with a heavy workload expected in the Test series he will be considered for selection later in the ODI series.”

West Indies and England are currently due to meet in the third and final Test of the series which begins at St. Lucia on Saturday. The hosts have already captured the series after taking an unassailable 2-0 lead with two crushing wins.

The first ODI between the two sides will take place at Bridgetown in Barbados on February 20.

WEST INDIES 14-MAN SQUAD FOR FIRST AND SECOND ODIS

Jason Holder (c), Fabian Allen, Devendra Bishoo, Darren Bravo, Chris Gayle, Shimron Hetmyer, Shai Hope, Evin Lewis, Ashley Nurse, Keemo Paul, Nicholas Pooran, Rovman Powell, Kemar Roach, Oshane Thomas.