West Indies great Chris Gayle confirmed he hasn’t retired from ODI cricket yet. Despite walking off to a standing ovation after his knock in the third and last ODI against India in Port of Spain, Gayle is still not an ex-player.
The prelude
After his stunning show of a 41-ball 72 Gayle received stating ovation while walking back to the pavilion. This series was all about Gayle, especially after his exclusion of West Indies test squad. Gayle had earlier reconsidered his retirement once and said he would like to play a test match at home against India. But the selectors were too practical while deciding the team and didn’t consider him. After the heartbreak, Gayle went on to become the first West Indies cricketer to appear for 300 One Day Internationals. He also went ahead of Brian Charles Lara to become the highest run-getter for West Indies in the 50-over format. No wonder all expected Gayle to bid adieu with this happy note.
The surprise
Chris Gayle walked out to bat wearing a special jersey marking his 301st ODI and smashed a 41-ball 72 to help West Indies reach 240 as the highest scorer. Gayle hit five maximums and eight-four in the innings. His partnership of 115-run with fellow opener Evin Lewis set the momentum of the Windies innings. Chris Gayle was congratulated by Virat Kohli and the rest of the Indian teammates as he walked back to the pavilion. Kohli in fact celebrated with Gayle in famous RCB style after his dismissal. Gayle’s gesture and celebrations after the quickfire raised speculation of retirement even more.
Kohli later shared his thought about Gayle in the press conference as well, “I would like to congratulate him for a great, great career playing for West Indies.” Even Kevin Pietersen took to Twitter to wish Gayle all the luck on his retirement.
But Gayle fooled all!
But when the man was asked about the same by West Indies Cricket in a post-match interview he said, “I didn’t announce any retirement. Yeah, I am (still with West Indies cricket) until any further notice.”
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