Veteran West Indies opener Chris Gayle has been appointed vice-captain for the upcoming World Cup, in England and Wales.
Cricket West Indies announced that Gayle, 39, would serve as Captain Jason Holder’s deputy from May 30 to July 14.
The World Cup is expected to be his swansong from the One-Day format.
Earlier this year, he signaled his intention to retire following the World Cup.
West Indies most consistent One-Day International batsman, Shai Hope was named vice-captain for the ongoing Tri-Nation Series in Ireland ,which started recently and would end on May 17.
Gayle, the most experienced player in the West Indies World Cup squad, is a former West Indies captain who led the Caribbean side in 65 One-Day Internationals (ODI) and 20 Tests between 2007 and 2010.
The left-handed hard hitting Jamaican batsman who featured in 289 ODIs scored 10,151 runs and 25 centuries.
Gayle will be a pivotal player for West Indies in the World Cup having displayed tremendous form in the recent One-Day Internationals home series against England where he plundered 424 runs to be named Man-of-the- Match, CWI selectors said.
Commenting on his selection Gayle said: “As a senior player it is my responsibility to support the captain and everyone else in the team. This would 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.”
Hope marked his 50th match recently with a match-winning 170 runs against Ireland vs West Indies with a handsome 196-run victory.
The right-hander has already scored 1947 runs with five centuries at an average 48.67.
In the second match against Bangladesh in the Tri-Nation series, the regional team was beaten by five wickets despite Hope scoring a century. Bangladesh made light work of chasing 262 to win the match.
