West Indies Batsmen Chanderpaul out of Australia series

West Indies batting great Chanderpaul has been excluded from the team selection for the Australia Test series. The decision taken by the West Indies selection board has drawn wide criticism from the former West Indies cricketers and media.

Chanderpaul, who has been very close to the record of Brain Lara, to become the all time best runs scorer for West Indies has been suffering from out of form issues. He has not been performing up to the mark and hence, it paved way for the selectors to take in young talent in place of Chanderpaul.

New head coach Phil simmons, defended the decision of excluding Chanderpaul form the squad. He said ” we have selected a team keeping in view the formidable opponents(Australia). We want to select the best team available to play Australia. West Indies board does not have any sentiments in the selection process”.

However, former West Indies greats such as Brian Lara criticized the decision. He said that the batsmen could have been given another chance to prove himself, probably a farewell series. The decision also seen the West Indies media running public debate over the issue, the Cricbuzz reports.

Chanderpaul too publicly expressed his displeasure over the board, by the way it is handling his situation. Shane Dowrich and Rajindra Chandrika were included in the place of the star batsmen,  in the 14 men squad.