Jamaica, May 7: Explosive opener Chris Gayle has been named vice-captain of the West Indies team for the World Cup, beginning May 30 in the UK.

Gayle, who is set to retire from ODIs after his fifth World Cup appearance, is in top form going into the tournament, having scored close to 500 runs in the IPL. He was also in devastating form in the home series against England, hitting two hundreds and as many half-centuries in the five-match series.

"It is always an honour to represent the West Indies in any format and this World Cup for me is special," Gayle said after being named Jason Holder's deputy on Monday.

Gayle is a former West Indies captain who last led the regional side in June 2010.

"As a senior player, it is my responsibility to support the captain and everyone else in the team. This will 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," said the 39-year-old, who has amassed 10151 runs in 289 ODIs at 38.16.

It was also announced that Shai Hope will be the vice-captain in the on-going tri-series in Ireland involving the hosts and Bangladesh.

"It's a tremendous honour to be appointed vice captain for this series here in Ireland. Ahead of this tournament, I was asked to take on this role and I was happy to accept. Anything I'm asked to do for West Indies cricket I'm always happy and willing to put my hand up, so this is great," said Hope.

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Belagavi: The state cabinet under the Chairmanship of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has reportedly given its nod to permit cricket matches at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru, subject to certain conditions.

The decision is learnt to have been taken after a meeting held at the Suvarna Vidhana Soudha here on Thursday.

Reports indicate that Home Minister Dr G. Parameshwara has been directed to formulate rules along with a referendum to hold a cricket match at the Chinnaswamy Stadium.

The cabinet’s approval comes subject to conditions, considering the report of Justice D’Cunha, which was prepared after the stampede.

The June 4 stampede during the celebrations for RCB’s maiden IPL title killed 11 people, which raised serious questions over the stadium's capability to host large-scale events.

Will RCB be playing at their home ground next year?

Stating that the “state had learned from the tragedy,” Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar on Monday, December 08, dismissed the talks about shifting Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s home games out of the city.

He also said that the Chinnaswamy Stadium is the “pride of Bengaluru and Karnataka” and vowed that IPL fixtures will continue to be played there.

On Wednesday, Shivakumar met the newly elected KSCA president Venkatesh Prasad at the Circuit House in Belagavi and reiterated that cricket matches, including IPL fixtures, will not be shifted out of Bengaluru.

“We have no intention of stopping matches at Chinnaswamy Stadium, but crowd control measures and the Michael D. Cunha committee’s recommendations will be implemented in phases,” he told reporters.

Shivakumar said the government is committed to promoting cricket and supporting fans while safeguarding the state’s reputation, adding that Prasad had sought the government’s cooperation and agreed to work jointly on the issue.