The mere presence of Chris Gayle is invaluable according to West Indies vice-captain, Nicholas Pooran, as the team embarks on their T20 World Cup title defense later this month.
Gayle has been facing a barrage of criticisms from different sectors of the sport for his inclusion in the World Cup squad following his recent lacklustre form.
The 42-year-old scored 227 runs in 16 T20Is this year at a strike rate of 117 before going onto the Caribbean Premier League where he chalked up 165 runs at a strike rate of 128.9 in nine matches.
The left-hander then played two matches for Punjab Kings in the Indian Premier League, scoring 14 and one, before taking a break to prepare for the World Cup.
When asked about the importance of having the veteran Pooran replied, “Very important, as much as persons question why this, whatever the case is, 14,000 T20 runs didn’t come by guess, that’s one, just batting out in the middle with the experience again, talking about intent, talking about taking down players, talking about when to go, when not to go, not much players know how to win T20 games or leagues or titles, that experience there is very valuable for us.”
Pooran recalled that in their training session on Wednesday, he was batting with Gayle and in that short time there was a lot of value as he tried to learn as much as he could from the power hitter.
“He is a special human being, only when you play cricket with him or against him you know how it feels to have him around and for instance, he could make 10 runs from 20 balls but just his presence make captains change their plans and its things like that you look at when you’re playing T20 games,” Pooran said.
The wicketkeeper who also plays with Punjab Kings in the IPL gave the example that captains would not want to play their trump leg-spinners and left-arm orthodox bowlers once he is at the crease.
Collectively, Pooran pointed out, “We are very happy in this group, even off the cricket field he is someone who supports you and backs you 100 per cent, we talk about positivity, he is one of the most positive guys we have in the Caribbean and in this team here.”