ST JOHN'S, Antigua and Barbuda: West Indies captain Darren Sammy and big-hitting opener Chris Gayle have been left out of the squad to face Zimbabwe in a three-match ODI series which starts on Friday.

Sammy is rested after playing every match for the West Indies in the past two years with Dwayne Bravo taking over the captaincy.

“Gayle has asked to miss the ODI Series and has been granted permission accordingly,” said a West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) statement.

No reason was given for Gayle's decision to skip the series.

The West Indies endured a disappointing tour of Australia which ended last week.

They lost all five one-dayers before clinching a morale-boosting 27-run win in a one-off T20 international in Brisbane in their last outing.

Zimbabwe will play three ODIs against West Indies in Grenada on February 22, February 24 and February 26.

The tourists will also play two Twenty20 internationals as well as two Tests.

West Indies squad (for first two matches of three-day series):

Dwayne Bravo (captain), Tino Best, Darren Bravo, Johnson Charles, Narsingh Deonarine, Sunil Narine, Veerasammy Permaul, Kieron Pollard, Kieran Powell, Denesh Ramdin, Kemar Roach, Andre Russell, Ramnaresh Sarwan