A Gayle force is set to hit India in the coming weeks. With the fifth edition of the lucrative Indian Premier League beginning on April 4, all eyes will again be on West Indian opener Chris Gayle, who was the star of the last edition of the league. One of the main reasons for the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) outfit to be the bookers’ favourite to lift this year’s championship is the presence of this huge West Indian guy.
Even Gayle is also happy to be back in India for the IPL.
“It’s good to be back,” stated Gayle after a practice session with his team for the first time. “The hospitality here is always good and I think I’m most welcome
Dissenting Chris Gayle
again here,” he said.
Even the West Indian has high hopes about his own showing this time. “I’m looking forward to IPL- 5 and hopefully I can have a better tournament than the last one,” he hoped.
Despite coming in as a replacement after RCB had played a handful of matches, Gayle still managed to notch over 600 runs and don the Orange Cap (highest run-getter of the tournament) last time.
Gayle, however, is quite aware of the high expectation that has been generated around him. “The expectation is high, based on what happened last year. But last year is history and we don’t know what the future holds,” was his pragmatic view. “I’m not a person to actually predict and say ‘yes I’m going to better 600 odd runs’. We’ll just have to wait and see. The start is going to be crucial. I will be getting more games this time and is looking forward to that,” he stated.
The right-hander, who is donning his still all over the world in their domestic leagues after falling apart with the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB), had to abandon the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) midway thanks to a groin pull, He has been recovering slowly and is hopeful of getting back to full fitness before the tournament starts.
“I still have a bit of a niggle and am doing some work on it. Hopefully in the next couple of days I’ll be fully ready,” he said.
Having played in the Big Bash in Australia, the BPL as also the English County circuit, Gayle is perhaps the best man to compare the different T20 leagues.
“The IPL is a different atmosphere compared to all those other tournaments. This is the ultimate, the IPL,” Gayle said.
The opener, however, feels there’s still some international cricket left in him.
“I’ve been out for one year now and it’s disappointing to be out of international cricket for such a long time. We just have to try and rectify it and I’ve still got more international cricket left inside me,” he stated.
The West Indian, however, got into some talks with the WICB recently.
“We’ve had some meetings and some good discussions. We both signed agreements,” he said of the ongoing talks with the board.
But he dismissed it as anything too dramatic. “There’s nothing dramatic…. They asked a few questions and that’s about it.”
However, Gayle is following his country’s show closely too.
Talking about the recent West Indies-Australia ODI series, which ended in a 2-2 draw, with a match in-between being tied, Gayle said the boys played really well.
“It was a good One-day series. It was competitive and we actually should have won that series 4-1. The guys played really well. The atmosphere was good and the turnout at the games in St. Vincent and St. Lucia was extremely wonderful,’ Gayle said.
“Some of the guys had a reasonably good tournament – Pollard stood out with his hundred. It’s good to see someone come of age and be man of the series in the One-day series against Australia.The bowlers too did their part – Sunil Narine and others – hopefully they’ll do well in the Test series as well,” Gayle hoped.
