At 41, Gayle will return to West Indies' T20I squad for the series against Sri Lanka, while fast bowler Fidel Edwards makes a comeback to the national team after 8 years.
West Indies' swashbuckling batsman Chris Gayle makes a return to the West Indies T20I squad after over two years, while pacer Fidel Edwards has also been included in the team for the first time since November 2012.
The three-match T20I series between West Indies and Sri Lanka will be played between March 3-7. All the games will be played at the Coolidge Cricket Ground in Antigua.
Gayle had last played for the Windies in the limited-overs series against India in 2019, when it was speculated that the opener would announce his international retirement. However, a few months later, he playfully suggested that he can play till the age of 45.
The left-handed batsman produced a series of impressive performances during his late arrival for the Kings XI Punjab (now Punjab Kings) in the IPL 2020, steering the side to five-successive victories towards the closing stages of the season.
During a T10 League game, Gayle returned to his aggressive-best with an unbeaten 84-run knock off just 22 deliveries for his side Team Abu Dhabi.
Fidel Edwards, meanwhile, had left international cricket to sign for Hampshire on a Kolpak deal. However, he expressed his desire to return to West Indies after the UK's recent departure from the EU.
Edwards represented Jamaica Tallawahs in the 2020 Caribbean Premier League, taking 9 wickets in as many matches for the side. During the T10 League, the 39-year-old Edwards consistently clocked speeds above 140 km/h.
According to a press release from Cricket West Indies, all-rounder Andre Russell is still undergoing recovery after contracting COVID-19 earlier this month.
Here is the Windies T20I squad:
Kieron Pollard (C), Nicholas Pooran (V/C), Fabian Allen, Dwayne Bravo, Fidel Edwards, Andre Fletcher, Chris Gayle, Jason Holder, Akeal Hosein, Evin Lewis, Obed McCoy, Rovman Powell, Lendl Simmons and Kevin Sinclair
