Big players missing from visiting Windies side due to prior commitments: PCB

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Najam Sethi on Friday clarified that two key players of the visiting West Indies side had opted out from T20I series against Pakistan as they had prior commitments, and it was not due to security concerns.

Refusing to accept the visiting team as "weak", Sethi, according to the Dawn, said, "It is not fair to say that big West Indies players are not coming. Just two of their players have refused to come to Pakistan due to their [prior] commitments in the Indian Premier League."

Also, many of the high profile and experienced players are not a part of West Indies T20I side, so their absence from the three-match series should not be considered as their refusal to visit the country due to security reasons, Sethi said at the Karachi's Jinnah International Airport.

All-rounder Jason Mohammed will lead the notably weakened 13-man West Indies national side in the three-match T20I series against Pakistan, beginning April 1 at the Karachi's National Stadium.

West Indies regular T20I skipper Carlos Brathwaite, who rose to fame after smashing four consecutive sixes off England's Ben Stokes delivery to seal the 2016 World Twenty20 title, will miss the upcoming T20I series reportedly due to security concerns.

While Marlon Samuels, Denesh Ramdin and Samuel Badree are the most experienced players featuring in the national squad, whereas Jason Holder, Chris Gayle and Devendra Bishoo are omitted from the squad.

It should be noted that only four players of the side that were in West Indies' squad for the World Cup qualifiers earlier this month, will head to Pakistan.

Earlier, the Caribbean side's tour to Pakistan was due to take place in November last year, but adverse weather conditions in Lahore and the West Indies' major players commitment to the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) became the main reasons behind the postponement.