Shame that senior players don't play for West Indies: Hooper

Former West Indies captain Carl Hooper slammed the senior players of the side who do not make themselves available for the national team, saying it's a "shame" after the tourists lost by five-wickets to India in the first T20 international here on Sunday.

The likes of Chris Gayle declined to make himself available for selection ahead of the ODI series while dashing opener Evin Lewis cited personal reasons for not being part of the team.

Sunil Narine and Andre Russell were ruled out due to injury with the latter initially being part of the T20I squad only to pull out late on the eve of the opener at the Eden Gardens.

"It's a shame that some players are not interested in playing for the West Indies. I don't know why they are not interested to play for the team, but it's clear that they are not interested," Hooper told reporters on the sidelines of the first T20I where the Windies were restricted to 109/8 after being asked to bat first.

The tourists had also lost the test series 2-0 and the one-dayers 3-1.

"This is a young squad and these players need time. Had the senior players been here, it would not have been this easy for India," he added.

He further said: "In the final of ICC World Cup Qualifier, we lost the match against Afghanistan. If we had the full strength, we could have won."

According to Hooper, consistency is the main problem of the current West Indies team. "Some days we are playing well, some days we are not performing according to the situation. We need to be consistent," Hooper opined.

Hopper signed off by saying that there is no dearth of talent in the Caribbean, but they need to be nurtured well.

"We have the talent, but they need to be nurtured well. Cricket West Indies needs to adopt good policies. If you look at Shai Hope, he has the talent, but somehow he is not suited for T20 cricket."

--IANS

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