Chief selector Clive Lloyd says allowing Shiv Chanderpaul to continue playing in order to surpass Brian Lara as the highest run-getter in West Indies cricket was not a good enough reason to retain the veteran left-hander.

Chanderpaul was on Sunday axed from the West Indies squad for next month's two-Test series against Australia, a decision that is likely to end the player's illustrious 21-year, 164-Test career with him 87 runs shy of overtaking Lara's 11,953. He has scored 11,867 runs at an average of 51, with 30 Test centuries, reports CMC.

"We've taken that into consideration but that should never be the sole reason why you want to choose somebody," said the legendary former West Indies captain.

"As you may notice, he has been given quite a lot of games to probably try and get close to that and he hasn't looked the part that's why we've decided that now is the time to change."

Phil Simmons, along with selection chief Clive Lloyd, defended Chanderpaul's axing, contending the Guyanese left-hander's form had declined rapidly, averaging just 16 from his last 11 innings. And with the Guyanese already in the twilight of his career at age 40, Lloyd said the panel had also taken a decision to infuse the team with younger players.

"He has had a long and illustrious career and we know he's done a lot for West Indies cricket but at the same time when we sit down to select a team, we sit down to select a team to win a game against Australia, and to play the two Tests in the series against Australia," Simmons said.

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When we went through the process, he didn't fit in so it's not about giving someone two Tests to finish their career, it's about picking the best team to play the next game.

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Even if Chanderpaul extended his first class career, Lloyd said the focus would remain on developing younger players.

"If he decides to continue, people have done that before. They've not been selected but they've continued to play first class cricket. Our aim as selectors is to continue to play our young players and give them that exposure and you can't get better exposure than playing against one of the best teams in the world, probably the second best team in the world (in Australia)," Lloyd explained.

"They will be tested and that's what it's all about. Going forward, we want to play our youngsters and a lot of them are doing well and we feel now is the time to give them that exposure."

West Indies training squad: Devendra Bishoo, Jermaine Blackwood, Kraigg Brathwaite, Darren Bravo, Shannon Gabriel, Jason Holder, Shai Hope, Veerasammy Permaul, Denesh Ramdin, Kemar Roach, Marlon Samuels, Jerome Taylor.

Source: NDTV