Chris Gayle

Profile

His “devil may care” style of play has come in for harsh criticism on several occasions but with his unparalleled histrionics, Chris Gayle has time and again proved his critics wrong ,and has been the batsman West Indies gamble on for those rollicking starts.

A regular member in the West Indies youth sides, Gayle caught everyone’s eye when he cracked a wonderful 141 on their Under-19 Bangladesh tour and thereafter was hand-picked to represent his hometown Jamaica aged just 19. At Jamaica, he grew in stature and just 11 months later, he played his first ODI for the West Indies and consequently made his Test debut six months later. But he succumbed to pressure and after being offered several chances, was dropped. Gayle, however, redeemed himself in 2002 with a double century against New Zealand which was followed by a fantastic away series in India and thereby sealed his place in the side. His 317 against South Africa in 2005 was breathtaking and his 2006 Champions Trophy performance provided for an icing on the cake. He was offered captaincy in 2007 and the Jamaican did reasonably well with the team at his disposal. In 2009, Gayle displayed two extremely contrasting sides of his personality, scoring an unbeaten 165 in a Test against Australia that took more than seven hours, while smashing the fifth fastest Test fifty in just 70 balls, in the next match. He followed it up with a triple hundred against Sri Lanka next year, becoming only the fourth batsman to score two triple tons in Tests. 

Gayle was a surprise inclusion in the Bangalore side for the 2011 Indian Premier League after first representing Kolkata in the inaugural edition. The mighty Jamaican became an element of surprise as he single-handedly guided his team all the way to finals. He carried his form in the next edition, once again proving to be an unstoppable force. In the sixth season, “Gaylestorm” as he is fondly known, smashed the fastest T20 century in the world, off just 30 balls, a record only he could have set!

One of the hardest hitters of the cricket ball in the modern game, Gayle is known to put opposition bowlers straight under pressure with his no-holds-barred style of batting. Most dangerous on the off side, Gayle’s is not a copy book style but he still has a technique which is quite effective. His darting off spinners have also proved handy in ODIs and at a time when West Indies have failed to produce even decent batsman, Gayle is naturally a silver lining.

Fast Facts

• Chris Gayle is among the few West Indian players to have scored more than 6000 runs in Test cricket.
• Gayle holds the record for most number of centuries for a West Indian in ODIs.
• He became the first West Indian to score more than 7000 runs and take more than 150 wickets in ODIs.
• Gayle also became the first player to score a triple century against South Africa.
• He has the unique distinction of scoring a 100 in all three formats of the game.
• Gayle is the first player to have scored a century on T20 WC debut.
• He finished IPL 4 as the tournament's leading run-scorer, with 608 runs, and hence bagged the “Orange Cap”.

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Career

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