Dhaka, Oct 6 (IANS/CMC): No Chris Gayle, no problem said West Indies coach Ottis Gibson as he placed his faith in a number of young players for the upcoming series in Bangladesh.
Gayle and Gibson have had an estranged relationship following the former West Indies captain's highly controversial interview on Jamaican radio station KLAS Sports in April, when he lambasted the coach as well as West Indies Cricket Board officials.
Gibson answered with an emphatic "No!" when asked about the absence of Gayle hurting the West Indies chances in the series.
"We are not going to miss him because he is not here," Gibson said at a media conference, as West Indies held an afternoon training session at the Sher-e-Bangla Stadium in Mirpur.
Gibson added: "Some people will think we need him, but we believe we are building a team. Of course, like I said, we need senior players that are committed to mix with the youngsters and guide the youngsters.
"We believe we are building a team and we are seeing signs of improvement from the players. I know they are all capable and ready to take this opportunity."
Gibson emphasised West Indies captain Darren Sammy's opinion that Bangladesh could pose a strong challenge in their home conditions.
"We understand that in the Bangladeshi line-up they have several left-arm spinners, so that obviously means they will be counting heavily on their slow bowlers," he said.
"We were in Dubai last week preparing and we had the opportunity to play against some good spinners there."
He said: "A lot of our discussions and our training methods are geared toward combatting spin bowling.
"Everyone knows that Bangladesh, in these conditions, will be tough, but we believe we have done the work that will enable us to do well against their bowlers in these conditions."
West Indies play a Twenty20 and three One-day Internationals, along with two Tests against Bangladesh on the trip.
They will be hoping to avenge an embarrassing home series defeat to the Bengal Tigers when the two sides met in the Caribbean two years ago, at the same time several leading players, including Gayle, took industrial action over the terms and conditions of their contracts.