West Indies captain Jason Holder delighted Chris Gayle playing in World Cup qualifiers

HARARE: West Indies captain Jason Holder on Monday praised star batsmen Chris Gayle and Marlon Samuels for making themselves available for the upcoming 2019 World Cup qualifying tournament in Zimbabwe.

The two-time World Cup winners failed to automatically reach next year's tournament in England and Wales after slipping outside the top eight in the world one-day international rankings, leaving them to fight it out with cricket's lesser names for one of the last two spots.

The 26-year-old Holder has experienced pair Gayle and Samuels at his disposal, despite the decisions of other key players Darren Bravo, Sunil Narine, Andre Russell and Kieron Pollard to skip the qualifiers to play in the lucrative Pakistan T20 Super League.

"I must commend Chris and Marlon, who have come here with the motivation to do well for the Windies and give themselves a chance to play another World Cup," said Holder ahead of his team's first Group A game against the United Arab Emirates on March 6.

"We've got a well-balanced side, quality side with experience. Hopefully, we could gel together and make things happen in this tournament.

"As I said to the group, it may be an opportunity for guys to finish their careers well, it's also an opportunity for guys to make a spark in their careers by playing in the World Cup."

The Caribbean outfit, who won the first two World Cup tournaments in 1975 and 1979, also face Papua New Guinea, Netherlands and Ireland in the group stage, with the top three sides to progress to the Super Six.

Holder, though, already has one eye on lifting the title next year and becoming only the second three-time world champions.

"We know what is at stake," he added.

"It is an opportunity for us to grab some momentum heading into next year's World Cup, get some games under our belt, just finalise some combinations, get things straightened, and hopefully turn (around) our cricket in terms of the ODI format."