Destructive opening batsman, Chris Gayle, has stated that contrary to speculations, he is a fit man.
The 41-year-old former captain was named in the West Indies’ side for the upcoming three-match T20I series against Sri Lanka in Antigua starting tomorrow.
Gayle, who spoke to the media at a press conference yesterday declared, “I’m a fit man. I’ve been running all my life so don’t feel like I am not a runner because even up to this age I am still doing a lot of physical training so I still do my running. It’s important, it keeps your mind very sharp once you are a fit person and it’s just how you monitor your body as well,” he said.
The Jamaican, who last donned the West Indies uniform back in March 2019 stated that the comparison between him and the younger players was different. “For me it’s going to be totally different from a young player and is how well you manage a younger player with Chris Gayle as well but the younger players do have the time to actually execute their physical plans and they know these things are put in place so it shouldn’t be no problem when that time comes around,” he said.
The ‘Universe Boss’ as Gayle is known, reasoned that it the fitness standards are nothing new but something that has been part of West Indies cricket since before he made his debut 21 years ago.
“Back then I used to do a lot of running, even back in the day under coaches like Bennett King when we win a test match we have physicals after a Test match so those things have been a trend coming up in West Indies cricket so it’s not something new. These things have been happening over the years. I’ve been part of it so I know the structure they put in place,” Gayle said.
However, these days Gayle revealed that it is the mental side of his game that keeps him going.
“I think that’s actually gotten me through on a daily basis. It’s more mental than physical for me. It’s more the will power of the mind. You know the mind still actually wants to be there. The mind still wants to be out there and execute from a batting point of view and still have fun,” Gayle said.
In T20s, Gayle holds numerous records scoring 13691 runs in the format with a best of 175 not out while hitting 22 centuries and 86 half centuries across 413 matches.
