The Jamaican batsman Chris Gayle is known for his ability to clear the boundary with ease. He strikes in all the formats of the games proves his explosive abilities with the bat. e are well aware of such sights when some towering sixes comes out from his bat.
Before the start of the 10th season of IPL, Gayle needed 63 runs to reach the milestone 10,000 T20 runs. He became the first batsman on the globe to achieve that feat. Brandon Mccullum being the second one in the list with 7596 followed by Brad Hodge and D Warner.
Gayle only managed to score 32, 6, 22 in the three matches prior to the match in which he achieved the feat. He went on to score a 38-ball 77, with the help of 7 humongous sixes and 5 fours after being a member of his own elite club!
The ‘Universe Boss’ has become the only cricketer in the world to cross the mark of 10,000 runs in three levels — first-class, list-A, and T20s. He has 13,226 runs in 180 first-class matches, 11,694 runs in 336 List A games and 10,074 runs in 289 T20s.
In his hour of glory, let’s have an insight on his early career and his best T20 innings of his life. It won’t be easy enough to choose as Gayle storm has destroyed the careers of numerous bowlers in the world.
The T20 Battleground of Gayle
Gayle’s ability to hit the ball big helps him to get to the pitch of the ball and he creams deliveries over the infield with audacious shots. In T20s, he has played for the teams like Barisal Bulls, Barisal Burners, Chittagong Vikings, Dhaka Gladiators, Jamaica, Jamaica Tallawahs, Karachi Kings, Kolkata Knight Riders, Lahore Qalandars , Lions, Matabeleland Tuskers, Melbourne Renegades, PCA Masters XI, Royal Challengers Bangalore, Somerset, Stanford Superstars, Sydney Thunder, West Indies, Western Australia.
Gayle was among the players that fetched a contract in the inaugural IPL auctions, going to Kolkata. While in 2011, Gayle opted to join Bangalore in the fourth season of the IPL and he dominated the 4th, 5th and 6th seasons of the IPL with a swashbuckling batting display making him the most dangerous batsman. He holds the record for scoring fastest century reached in any format of cricket, the highest individual score in a T20 match, and the most sixes scored in a single innings in the IPL.
Gayle’s highest T20 score for RCB
Gayle played the innings of 175* off just 66 deliveries against the Pune Warriors in IPL 2013. He smashed 17 sixes in that T20 innings for RCB and helped the team to reach the highest total in T20 cricket (263). The only interruption to Gayle’s effort was a 33-minute rain interval. He signed off in the match with a Gangnam style gig at picking up two wickets in the only over he bowled.
18th April 2017- The day of the achievement
The fans were waiting for the day where the first ever someone scored 10,000 runs in this short format of the game. Gayle had the lowest strike rate among openers who had played 50 balls this season before coming into the game. He got to play in the match because of AB De Villiers missed out of injury.
As seen earlier, the flamboyant batsman always had a spirit of a comeback and thus led the foundation again on Rajkot. The trigger was Ravindra Jadeja’s second over, in which he hit two fours and two sixes. He played the innings of 77 off just 38 deliveries with the help of five fours and seven monstrous sixes, but the most point of talking were those three runs that helped him get a recognition for himself.
After achieving the feat Gayle said, “Samuel Badree reminded me before the game and said ‘Chris only three more runs to go, make sure you get it’ so it was actually playing on my mind a bit. Once I crossed the line, I said: ‘listen it’s time to have a go and then it eventually paid off, so I am really happy to get the runs.”
He further added, “People are still looking out for Chris Gayle. The universe boss is still here and still alive, It was great fun. You know it’s good to be back. I wanted this so badly, but first of all, to get 10,000 runs, it was actually on my mind, so I’m glad to get that sort of achievement. It’s a privilege to actually be the first person to get there. Hopefully, I can continue entertaining the fans.”
