St. John's, Antigua and Barbuda: West Indies called up controversial Chris Gayle and Dwayne Bravo as well as suspended off-spinner Sunil Narine for the 2016 World Twenty20 tournament on Friday.

Darren Sammy will lead the 15-man squad to the event which starts in India on March 8.

The squad includes 11 of the team which won the 2012 title in Sri Lanka and six players who are without central contracts.

Narine played a crucial role in that final victory in Colombo over the Sri Lankans in 2012, taking three wickets for just nine runs.

But the 27-year-old was suspended in November for a suspect bowling action and is currently sidelined from the game as he undergoes remedial work.

Despite their ongoing struggles in Test and one-day cricket, the West Indies are the current world number one ranked side in Twenty20.

They have been drawn in Group 1 of the Super 10 stage in India where they will play alongside England, South Africa, Sri Lanka, and one of the qualifiers from the first round.

West Indies squad announced on Friday for the 2016 World Twenty20 tournament taking place in India from March 8-April 3:

Darren Sammy (captain), Samuel Badree, Sulieman Benn, Darren Bravo, Dwayne Bravo, Andre Fletcher, Chris Gayle, Jason Holder, Sunil Narine, Kieron Pollard, Denesh Ramdin, Andre Russell, Marlon Samuels, Lendl Simmons, Jerome Taylor