Chris Gayle

Batting style:

Left Handed bat

Bowling style:

Off break

Played for:

West Indies, ICC World XI, Royal Challengers Bangalore, Kolkata Knight Riders, Western Australia, West Indies Under-19, Somerset, Sydney Thunder, Uva Next

Ex Skipper-Test,ODI,T20 | AllRounder

ICC Rank:

• Test
• ODI
• T20

Batting:

24

Bowling:

62

West Indies

Born:

September 21, 1979, Kingston, Jamaica

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. Since then he has provided some individual knocks of sheer class and brilliance. His 317 against South Africa in 2005 was breathtaking and his 2006 Champions Trophy performance provided for an icing on the cake. Offered captaincy in 2007, Gayle led the team maturely; and in an era in which West Indies cricket has rapidly declined, did reasonably well with the team at his disposal.

The captaincy later changed hands and in 2010, Darren Sammy replaced him as the skipper. What followed was a bitter row with the West Indies Cricket Board in 2011, following which he was dropped for the India tour. In the meanwhile, Gayle was a surprise inclusion in the Royal Challengers Bangalore side for the 2011 IPL, which turned the tables for good, as Bangalore cruised to the finals, only to lose to eventual winners, Chennai Super Kings.

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.