On This Day: Birthday of Jamaican powerhouse Chris Gayle who redefined the art of big hitting
September 21, 1979- birthday of Jamaican giant Chris Gayle, who is considered one of the first few global superstars of the Twenty20 format. During the later part of his career, when he had already cemented his legacy, he earned the nickname 'Universal Boss.'
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September 21, 1979- birthday of Jamaican giant Chris Gayle, who is considered one of the first few global superstars of the Twenty20 format. During the later part of his career, when he had already cemented his legacy, he earned the nickname 'Universal Boss.'
In his prime, he mastered the art of exploiting the bowlers with the help of his immense muscle power. To date, some of his records still remain untouched. In the opening game of the inaugural World T20 in Johannesburg, the tall left-handed batter scored 175 runs in 66 balls, which is still the highest individual score in the format and one of the fastest T20 hundreds.
He scored massive runs in all of the formats for the West Indies. The 333-run knock in Tests, against Sri Lanka in Galle on November 15, 2010, was a testimonial of his batting. Chris Gayle scored two triple-centuries in Test cricket, with scores of 317 against South Africa in 2005 and 333 against Sri Lanka in 2010.
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An iconic batter who redefined the art of hard hitting
In the One Day International format, Gayle smashed a double ton as well. On February 24, 2015, against Zimbabwe at the ICC Cricket World Cup, the opener finished his 215-run off 147-ball innings against Zimbabwe. He achieved the ton in just 138 deliveries; at that time, that was considered the fastest knock in a Cricket World Cup.
More than for his time with the West Indies cricket team, Gayle became a household name for his batting for various franchise teams across the globe. Throughout his professional cricket career, he played in 9 different T20 franchise leagues, including the Indian Premier League. He played over 140 matches in IPL, the most in his career for a league. After playing 142 IPL matches, he maintained a strike rate close to 150, which was further evidence of his hitting abilities, while for the West Indies, in T20Is, he played only 79 matches at an average strike rate of 137.50.
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