One of the dangerous cricketers in World Cricket, Chris Gayle, has reached England with his teammates for the upcoming ICC World Cup which is scheduled to begin from May 30. However, he shared that bowlers around the world are still afraid to bowl him. Chris Gayle has been in a formidable form for the last couple of games. He smashed 490 runs in 13 games for Kings XI Punjab in the recently concluded Indian Premier League (IPL). Before that, he took on England in an ODI series, scoring 424 runs in 4 matches at an average of 106 which included 39 sixes.
“Youngsters coming at my head – it’s not as easy as it was like one time before. I was quicker then,” Gayle said to cricket.com.au. “But they’ll be wary. They know what the Universe Boss is capable of. I’m sure they will have it in the back of their mind, ‘Hey, this is the most dangerous batsman they’ve ever seen in cricket.'”
While asking about the oppositions are still scared of him or not, Gayle said to ask the players.
“Go ask them on camera. They’re going to say, no, they’re not scared. But you ask them off the camera, they going to say, ‘Yeah, he’s the man. He’s the man.’ They’re going to say, ‘he’s the man.’ But they won’t say it (on camera), they won’t be frank and upfront and say, ‘Listen to me straight up, Chris Gayle is the man,’ he said.
“But I’m enjoying it. I’m always enjoying the battle against fast bowlers, it’s good. Sometimes those things actually give you extra drive as a batter. When you have a battle, I like those challenges,” he further added.
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West Indies had to play the qualifiers to seal their spot in the 2019 World Cup but Gayle said they are capable of winning the title.
“To be honest with you, it’s the fans, it’s the love of the game. Sometimes as sportsmen, they don’t know when to walk away. Because sometimes you might feel at your peak, but eventually you have to leave the game at some point in time,” he said.
“If you’re enjoying it, it’s always easy (to keep playing) and I’m enjoying it. I’ve been having a lot of fun on the field, and it’s a great bunch of guys as well – that’s important. The dressing room is always going to play a key part for me as an individual. These guys spur you on. The fans are always asking you for more sixes. Those things give you that extra drive. There’s nothing to go out there and prove, the only thing that would be nice is to win the World Cup,” he further added.
However, this is going to be the final World Cup for Gayle but he has been in a great form which will trouble the opponents for sure.
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“I am still in good nick. I had a not-so-bad IPL, coming after the home series against England. The good thing about it is I’ve been playing cricket. It’s important for me to keep playing and get some games under my belt and come here to the UK and start with a few warm-up games as well to see where you’re at. It’s a long tournament. For me personally I just have to monitor it as much as possible and just get the mindset right,” he said.
