Chris Gayle, arguably the best T20 batter to have played the game, has expressed his reservations over playing in the Indian Premier League (IPL), saying that he wasn’t treated well in the last few years. During his IPL career, Gayle has represented Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and Punjab Kings (PBKS).
Meanwhile, Gayle didn’t enter the IPL 2022 mega auction after being released by Punjab Kings. However, the West Indian’s stock was going down in the last few years. He wasn’t a permanent member of the playing XI in the past couple of seasons and withdrew during the 2nd half of IPL 2021 due to bio-bubble fatigue.
Throwing light on his experiences of playing in the last few years, Chris Gayle revealed that he didn’t enter the auction because he felt that he wasn’t getting the respect he deserves. Speaking to the Mirror, he said:
“For the last couple of years, the way the IPL went about, I felt like I wasn’t treated properly. So I thought ‘okay, you (Gayle) didn’t get the respect you deserved after you did so much for the sport and IPL.”
“So I said ‘okay, that’s it, I’m not going to bother to enter the draft,’ so I left it as it is. There is always going to be life after cricket so I’m just trying to adapt to normality,” he added.
Chris Gayle’s records in IPL 2022
Over the years, the 42-year-old batter has earned the reputation of being one of the tournament’s greatest-ever players. The West Indies star has scored six hundred, which is the most by any batsmen in the tournament.
He has scored 4965 runs in 142 matches at a strike rate of 125.32. Gayle is the seventh-highest run-scorer of all time in the history of the tournament. He also the highest individual score in the history of the competition with an unbeaten 175 against now-defunct Pune Warriors India.
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