Gayle, who is set to play the final World Cup of his career, having announced his retirement from One Day Internationals post the tournament, will play as deputy to Jason Holder and while speaking to the media, he admitted that it’s an honour for him to represent the team.
"It is always an honour to represent the West Indies in any format and this World Cup for me is special. As a senior player it is my responsibility to support the captain and everyone else in the team," Gayle was quoted as saying in an official statement released by Cricket West Indies.
"This will probably be the biggest World Cup, so there will be great expectations and I know we will do very well for the people of the West Indies," he added.
Gayle, as of now, is playing in the Indian T20 League with team Punjab and isn’t a part of his team’s on-going Tri-nation series against Ireland and Bangladesh. Hence, the wicket-keeper batsman, Shai Hope is playing as deputy to Holder.
Pre-World Cup, Windies are set to play two warm-up matches against South Africa and New Zealand on May 26 and 28 respectively. They will eventually begin their World Cup quest on May 31 at Trent Bridge, Nottingham, against Pakistan.
