(Barbados Nation) Chris Gayle is about to call time on Test cricket – if only on a temporary basis.
Weeks after stressing his commitment to West Indies cricket and advising of his availability to the regional team, Gayle has suggested that he is about to take a break from the longer version of the game.
The 31-year-old former West Indies captain used the social network website Twitter to make the announcement yesterday, hours after the end of the rain-ruined Test series against Sri Lanka.
“The Test series is officially over. Might as well. I think that’s me for white clothes . . . only will be watching attacking batters in T cricket now,” Gayle said.
“I didn’t use the word retire, at least not now. It will just be temporary. I have a few things to sort out.”
If Gayle sticks to his word, he will miss the home series against Pakistan and India between April 23 and July 10 next year that immediately follows the World Cup in Asia.
Just as Gayle was making the announcement about his planned break, news emerged from India that Kolkata Knight Riders, the franchise that snapped him up for US$800 000 for the Indian Premier League in 2008, was planning on targeting him again for the fourth edition of the tournament next year.
“It’s only logical that Kolkata Knight Riders would retain Gayle. You simply can’t ignore the impact he has on a match if he gets going.
“He has a strike rate of close to 145 in this format and Twenty20 is all about impact. He is also an effective off-spinner,” someone who closely monitors the proceedings of the Kolkata franchise told Press Trust of India.
“With Delhi Daredevils set to retain Virender Sehwag, Mumbai Indians keeping Sachin Tendulkar and Chennai Super Kings having Mahendra Singh Dhoni, it’s imperative that Kolkata Knight Riders also has one match-winner on board before going into the auctions. He is someone like Sehwag who can make a difference.”
Gayle, who has often been the subject of criticism over some of his public comments during his three-year tenure as West Indies captain, was bypassed for the job in October after turning down a one-year central retainer contract from the West Indies Cricket Board.
In announcing its list of contracted players, the WICB said Gayle indicated to the WICB that he remained committed to West Indies cricket and would be available for selection.
He was subsequently picked for the tour of Sri Lanka where he started the Test series in emphatic fashion by scoring a 333 in which he recorded the highest score by a West Indies batsman on foreign soil and became only the fourth player in Test history to complete three triple-centuries.
He failed to fire for the rest of the series, however, and had scores of 30, 3 and 0.
