Gayle disclosed that he has already made his feelings clear to Pietersen whom he considers a friend, after the England batsman was quoted as saying that Chanderpaul “has been fantastic” in the series, but one thing about the crabby left-handed batsman “disappoints” him.
“Every time he gets runs he never fields,” Pietersen said. “There’s always an injury or something. That has really got on my nerves here. It leads me to think he plays for himself.”
Gayle said Pietersen was out of place to speak about Chanderpaul in that way.
“I was very shocked to hear that sort of thing and very disappointed in Kevin Pietersen for making these sorts of comments,” said Gayle. “He has no right to make these sorts of comments.
“Whatever issues he had, he should have kept to himself. I’ve played with Shiv for years and, as a captain, I get tremendous support from him both on and off the field.
“His batting in all forms of the game has been brilliant and to hear these sorts of comments out in public has been very disappointing.”
The 34-year-old Chanderpaul is the most senior West Indies batsman with more than 16,500 runs in 119 Tests and 244 One-day Internationals since his international debut 15 years ago.
Pietersen’s comments appeared in an interview with the Daily Mail newspaper.
“I spoke to him [Pietersen] and told him I was very disappointed in him,” Gayle added. “He didn’t need to stoop to that level and I let him know straight up that I was disappointed in what I had heard.
“He didn’t actually apologise and if he could apologise that would be nice. We’re all big men, but there’s no need to go to that level and degrade other players.
“No one wants to be degraded in this manner. We’re all human beings and everybody is playing this sport to enjoy the game, but to take it to that level is very disappointing.”
Chanderpaul had the privilege of hitting the winning runs in Friday’s eight-wicket victory in third ODI at Kensington Oval which gave West Indies a 2-1 lead in the five-match series.
