Is This The End Of Road For 37-Year Old Chris Gayle In Twenty20s
May 9, 2017 at 10:00 AM
Before the tenth edition of the Indian Premier League had begun, not a single person out there would have thought that Chris Gayle, the undisputed king of the Twenty20 format, would have to sit on the bench. But as the season unfolded, the hard-hitting Jamaican found him warming the bench on more than one occasion owing to the indifferent performances with the bat.
His first and only significant contribution in IPL 2017 is a 38-ball 77 against Gujarat Lions by 21 runs in Rajkot. The knock not only helped the Royal Challengers to get back to winning ways but also made Gayle the first batsman to bring up 10,000 T20 runs. But the 77-run knock was preceded with scores of 32,6, 22 and was followed with scores of 7,8,0,0. So, out of 13 matches that the Royal Challengers have played so far, Gayle has played only 8 matches, scoring a disappointing 152 runs at an average of 19.
Now the question arises that arises is whether Gayle’s career is finally in its twilight. The man has looked like a pale shadow of himself not only in the ongoing IPL but also in the Pakistan Super League earlier this year where he had managed only 160 runs in nine matches. In fact, his poor showing with the bat has continued since the 2015-16 edition of the Big Bash League (BBL). After the fifth edition of BBL where he had scored 260 runs in 8 outings, the West Indian has played 54 T20 games scoring 1352 runs at an average of 27.59, which is considerably lower than his career average of a shade over 40.
Moreover, the age is another concern for Gayle. The 37-year old has never been the best of athletes in the game but it hardly bothered his team when he was in his prime. The left-handed batsman usually scores a high percentage of his runs in boundaries but recently he has been seen taking his time before going for the shots. And while there is absolutely no denying that he still has the ability to blow away any attack when he gets going but he has been consistently failing to do so.
With over 10,000 runs, 18 centuries, 61 half-centuries, 771 fours and 743 sixes in only 294 matches so far, the former West Indies skipper is undoubtedly the greatest T20 player of all time. However, time is running out for him. Majority if not all are likely to go into the auction pool ahead of the next edition of the IPL and if Gayle does not find back his mojo soon, it is highly likely that he will fail to attract any suitor.