West Indies’ swashbuckling batsman Chris Gayle hasn’t played international cricket since the World T20 final against England in Kolkata in April 2016. However, during this period, the mighty Jamaican has featured in many domestic T20 leagues across the world.
But, the West Indian selectors have once again recalled the star T20 batsman for one-off T20 international against India at Sabina Park.
Gayleis the leading run scorer in T20 cricket history and many cricket pundits believe that he is the most destructive batsman in the history of the shortest format of the game.
“We welcome Chris back to the T20 squad,” said Cricket West Indies chairman Courtney Browne.“He is the most prolific batsman in this format and will add value to our team at the top of the order.He will get the chance to play on his home ground and against a top-quality Indian team.”
Chris Gayle replaced Lendl Simmons who struggled in the T20 series against Afghanistan. The one-off T20I against India will be Gayle’s first T20 match at his home ground, Sabina Park.
Here are some of the excerpts of Chris Gayle’s interview he gave to Fox Sports, earlier this year before the Indian Premier League 2017.
“I want to be the first man to play til 50,” Gayle said.
“I’d love her to see me play cricket. I want her to just turn up in the stands and watch dad play a game of cricket, I’d love her to actually witness it one day.
“Age is something, it’s a number. It’s about the body, when you’re young you can get away with a lot of things, you definitely do a lot more partying.
“You have to keep in shape and you have to start eating properly as well, now, being older now, you have to do all these things. Freshen up the body and make sure you can actually last longer.“
