Chris Gayle features in West Indies' 14-man squad announced on Thursday, February 7 for the first two ODIs of the upcoming five-match series versus England. Veteran left-handed opener provides a major boost to the hosts as they take on the No.1 ranked one-day side in the world. 

The 39-year-old, who has not played for West Indies since July last year, had opted out of the tours of India and Bangladesh because of his T20 commitments around the world. But expect Gayle to be rearing to go, especially with the ICC Cricket World Cup scheduled in the immediate future. 

He brings with him the experience of 284 ODIs, 9,727 runs and 23 centuries for the Caribbean. Gayle was West Indies' leading run-getter in the 2015 World Cup across Australia and New Zealand with 340 runs at an average of 56.66 from seven games. 

Spinner Ashley Nurse has also made a comeback after his injury exile in the squad that sees a maiden ODI call-up for 23-year-old wicketkeeper batsman Nicholas Pooran. 

"He (Pooran) is clearly a young player with undoubted talent and we believe he can add value to our middle order," chairman of selectors Courtney Browne said in a statement.

"As we continue our Cricket World Cup preparations, the upcoming series against the top-ranked ODI side is a great opportunity to gauge where we are as a team."

The first ODI will be played in Barbados on February 20. 

Squad: Jason Holder (captain), Chris Gayle, Devendra Bishoo, Darren Bravo, Fabian Allen, Shimron Hetmyer, Shai Hope, Evin Lewis, Ashley Nurse, Keemo Paul, Nicholas Pooran, Kemar Roach, Rovman Powell, Oshane Thomas. 

(Inputs from cricbuzz)