Former Windies opener Daren Ganga expressed the excitement while witnessing the two senior players Chris Gayle and Marlon Samuels being inducted in the 15-member squad, for the upcoming One-day International series against England, as he further believes the addition would add a significant amount of experience in the lineup.
“It is refreshing news for both Chris Gayle and Marlon Samuels,” Ganga was quoted as saying by Newsday.
Following the resolution between the Cricket West Indies and players, which also saw the Jamaican duo Gayle and Samuels entering into the One-day International fold after three and two years respectively.
The 38-year-old former skipper for Caribbean domestic side Trinidad and Tobago Ganga believes the five-match series will boost the morale of the youngsters in the set-up.
“Any amount of leadership and experience would obviously be an added boost for our current West Indies team,” Ganga added.
As the side has gone down miserably in the pink ball Test in England, Ganga voiced his opinion by suggesting experience has always a crucial role to play particularly when a side is led by the 25-year-old bowling all-rounder Jason Holder.
“Right now if you compare our West Indies team against the current England Test team, you would see that the team fails in comparison to the experience on that England side,” Ganga further added.
The Windies have been struggling in the Test format which further saw a side failing to make it to the recently concluded ICC Champions Trophy owing to the poor performance when the team slipped to number nine spot in the ICC’s rankings list.
Ganga, who is working as a commentator is confident of witnessing some quality competition in the limited-over format in the British Isles.
“I am sure it will make our ODI team a little more competitive than it has been. Hopefully these guys can lead the West Indies team to some victories in the ODI series,” Ganga maintained.
Owing to the uphill task, Ganga also reiterated the batsmen are supposed to play according to the condition while suggesting his national team players should not rush on too early.
(Read Also: Windies Announce ODI Squad Against England as Chris Gayle, Marlon Samuels Return to Fold)
However, earlier West Indies were thrashed by India, in the recently concluded five-match series by 3-1, as one of the ODI matches was washed out on Caribbean shores.
After being slammed by the former players and fans, Windies skipper Holder was at the receiving end when bowling coach Roddy Estwick stated the former forgot and eventually failed to get hold of the due new ball when England was batting.
“It is really unfortunate for him to be placed in a situation where he has got a bunch of inexperienced players. I saw a little bit of the first Test match against England,” Ganga remarked.
The right-handed batsman Ganga featured in 48 Tests for the Windies in which he amassed 2,160 runs at an average of 25.71. While donning the white jersey, he registered three hundreds and nine fifties.