GALLE, Sri Lanka, CMC – One of the concerns West Indies fans had ahead of the tour of Sri Lanka was Chris Gayle’s response to being stripped of the captaincy.
Judging from the opening day of the opening Test on Monday, the West Indies Cricket Board decision to depose him doesn’t seem to have bothered him much.
The left-handed opener plundered the Sri Lanka bowling for an undefeated 219 to lead West Indies to 362 for two in their first innings at the close.
It was his third Test double hundred, his highest Test score on foreign soil, and an innings for which he has been preparing for a long time.
“I have worked on the mental part of my game, and coming down to Sri Lanka, I was definitely looking forward to this tour because I did not have a successful time the last time we came here, so it was one of those things I wanted to put right,” said Gayle.
Gayle was not part of the previous West Indies trip to Sri Lanka because of a players’ strike to protest terms and conditions of their engagement.
