The sight of captain Chris Gayle using the aid of a runner has become worryingly familiar for the West Indies and it recurred yesterday just a week before the first Test against England at Lord’s.
Gayle was limping between wickets on his way to 40 off 37 balls for the Kolkata Knight Riders against the Bangalore Royal Challengers in the latest Indian Premier League (IPL) match in Durban when he called for a runner, the Australian Brad Hodge who had been dismissed a few overs earlier.
Andrew Leipus, the Knight Riders physiotherapist, reported that the problem was an ankle injury that “could be fine one minute and painful the next”. But he assured that it should not prevent him leading the West Indies at Lord’s in the first of the two Tests in the series come Wednesday
Gayle later bowled 3.5 overs of his allocated four overs, including the last off which the Royal Challengers scored 11 runs to clinch victory by five wickets.
The Knight Riders, bottom of the eight teams after yesterday’s loss, have their next match against the Mumbai Indians in East London tomorrow.
Gayle and fast bowler Fidel Edwards, who is with the Deccan Chargers team, are then expected to join the West Indies team in England on Sunday in time for the first of the two Tests that starts on Wednesday.
Four times in the past year and a half, injuries have forced Gayle to miss matches for the West Indies (see list).
Gayle tore his right hamstring muscle sprinting through for a single to raise his hundred in the fifth Test against England at the Queen’s Park Oval five weeks ago but returned 12 days later to play in all five ODIs.
Prior to that, he had come back more than once before fully recovered and the latest injury would have to be very serious for him to miss a vital match in defence of the Wisden Trophy, reclaimed in the recent home series after a break of nine years.
The heavy-hitting left-handed opener and steady right-arm off-spinner gained a US$800,000 contract with the Knight Riders for the inaugural IPL season last year but was unable to play because of a groin strain sustained in the third ODI against Sri Lanka in St Lucia a week earlier.
He has played in all six matches for the Knight Riders so far but the Test series in England means he, like Edwards, misses the second half of the tournament.
Both will receive some compensation payment from the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) for consequent loss of earnings.
All-rounder Dwayne Bravo, whose Mumbai Indians lost to the King XI Punjab in the second IPL matches yesterday, will complete his US$220,000 contract before joining the West Indies for the three ODIs in England May 21, 24 and 26.
The WICB’s medical panel ruled that Bravo’s left ankle had not recovered sufficiently from an operation last year for him to play in the five-day Tests. But it passed him for the shorter forms in the IPL and the ODIS.
GAYLE’S INJURIES
December 2, 2007: Pulled hamstring muscle, retired hurt 58 v Zimbabwe, 2nd ODI, Harare (out until December 26, 1st Test v South Africa, Port Elizabeth).
January 2, 2008: Aggravated hamstring injury v South Africa, 2nd Test v South Africa, Cape Town.
January 5, 2008: Broken finger from Andre Nel bouncer, batting No.6 in second innings, 2nd Test v South Africa, Cape Town (out until March 22, 1st Test v Sri Lanka, Providence, Guyana).
April 15, 2008: Strained groin muscle in field v Sri Lanka, 3rd ODI, Beausejours, St.Lucia. (Out until June 12, 3rd Test v Australia, Kensington Oval, Barbados).
March 8, 2009: Pulled hamstring muscle, retired hurt 100 v Australia, 5th Test, Queen’s Park Oval, Trinidad (out until March 20, 1st ODI v England, Providence, Guyana).