It seems like T20 journey of Chris Gayle tending towards its end

By CricShots - May 10, 2017 4:18 pm

Ahead of the 10th season of the Indian Premier League (IPL), not a single fan of T20 cricket would have ever thought that Chris Gayle, the unquestioned king of the shortest format of the game, would warm the bench for the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB). But as the season unfolded, the Universe Boss found himself sitting at the bench on multiple occasions because of the dull performances with the bat.

Gayle’s first and last impactful performance in IPL 2017 was a 38-ball 77 against Gujarat Lions by 21 runs in Rajkot. Those innings helped the RCB to get back to winning ways but also made Gayle the first batsman to reach the total of 10,000 T20 runs. But the 77-run knock was followed by demoralizing scores of 32,6, 22 and some more single digit scores in various other matches. So, out of 13 games that the Royal Challengers have played so far, Gayle has played only 8 games, scoring only 152 runs at an average of less than 20.

Now the question arises that does Gayle’s career is finally seeing its last days or it was just a lead patch and he will come back stronger. The Caribbean batsman has looked like a pale shadow of himself not only in the ongoing IPL but also in the Pakistan Super League earlier this year where he only managed to score 160 runs in nine games. In fact, his poor showing with the bat has continued since the 2015-16 edition of the Big Bash League (BBL). After the fifth edition of BBL where he had scored 260 runs in 8 outings, the West Indian has played 54 T20 games scoring 1352 runs at an average of 27.59, which is considerably lower than his career average of a shade over 40.

In fact, Gaye’s poor performances with the bat have been continued since the 2015-16 edition of the Big Bash League (BBL). After the fifth season of BBL where he had scored 260 runs in 8 T20 games. He has played 54 T20 matches and scored 352 runs at an average of 27.59, which is considerably lower than his career average of a shade over 40.

Besides all this, the age is another matter of concern for Gayle. Currently, he is more than 37 years of age and has never bee the best of athletes in the game but it hardly worried his team when he was in his superior form. The southpaw normally scores a high percentage of his runs in boundaries but recently he has started to take some time in the middle before going for the shots. And while there is certainly no doubt about the fact that he still has the ability to destroy any attack when he gets going but he has been constantly failing to do so.

Considering Gayle’s record in T20s, he has scored as much as 10,000 runs, 18 centuries, 61 half-centuries, 771 fours and 743 sixes in just 294 matches so far. Needless to say, he is best T20 batsman the world has ever seen and even in future, it seems difficult to see a copy of the ‘Universe Boss’. However, time is running out for him. It seems that Gayle might go unsold in the next edition of the IPL auction and if Gayle does not find back his mojo soon.

Tags chris gayleiplIPL 2017rcbUniverse Boss

Related stories