Chris Gayle

Christopher Henry Gayle OD (born 21 September 1979) is a Jamaican cricketer who has played international cricket for the West Indies from 1999 to 2021.

Nicknamed "The Universe Boss", Gayle is widely regarded as the greatest batsman ever to have played Twenty20 cricket.

Gayle first played at the international level as a youth where he topscored for the Windies at the 1998 Under-19 Cricket World Cup.

He eventually made his first-class debut in 1998, at age 19 for Jamaica.

He played his first One Day International eleven months later in 1999, and his first Test match six months after that.

Gayle went on to establish himself as a destructive batsman who's most effective whilst playing square of the wicket.

In July 2001, Gayle (175), together with Daren Ganga (89) established the record for opening partnerships at Queens Sports Club, Bulawayo when they put on 214 together against Zimbabwe.

Gayle had a slow start to his international career, but invigorated it in 2002, ending the year with three centuries against India in November and becoming the third West Indian to score over 1,000 runs in a calendar year, along with Vivian Richards and Brian Lara.

He is one of only six players in One Day International history to have three or more scores of 150.

He played a crucial role in the West Indies teams that won the 2004 ICC Champions Trophy, 2012 ICC World Twenty20 and 2016 ICC World Twenty20.

He is the only batsman to score a century in T20I, a double century in One Day Internationals and a triple century in test cricket.

He has set numerous records across all three formats of the game.

He is the most capped player for the West Indies in international cricket and is the only player to score a triplet of centuries – a triple hundred in Tests, double hundred in ODIs and a hundred in T20Is.

Gayle is the only player to score more than 14,000 runs and hit more than 1,000 sixes in T20 cricket He is also the leading run scorer for West Indies in both ODIs and T20Is and along with Brian Lara the only player to score more than 10,000 runs for West Indies in ODI Cricket.

Gayle was the first West Indian batsman to score a double-century in ODI cricket and subsequently in the history of World Cup cricket, where he scored an innings of 215 against Zimbabwe.

His innings of 215 is currently the highest individual score by a left-handed batsman in ODI cricket.

Along with the ODI record, he has the highest individual score in the T20 World Cup as a West Indian with his 117 runs against South Africa.

In 2005, Gayle was dropped for the first Test against South Africa along with six other players following a dispute over sponsorship issues (see below).

He returned for the second Test but had a poor series until the fourth Test, where he made a match-saving 317.

It was the first-ever triple century against South Africa and up until Mahela Jayawardene made 374, it was the highest individual Test score against them.

In another match of the series, Gayle had to leave the field after complaining of dizziness.

During a subsequent series against Australia, Gayle again complained of dizziness and shortness of breath during his innings.

He left the field for a time, and was after the match sent to hospital where he was diagnosed with a congenital heart defect causing a cardiac dysrhythmia.

He underwent heart surgery following the series to correct the defect.

Moreover, in the ICC Champions Trophy, he has the highest score made by a West Indian with his innings of 133 not out against South Africa in the 2006 tournament.

In addition to his batting, He has picked up over 200 International Wickets with his Right-arm off-break spin bowling.

Playing Tests, Gayle scored over 7,000 runs at an average of over 42 and captained the West Indian Test side from 2007 to 2010.

He was made captain of the West Indies side in the ICC T20 World Cup 2009 after getting criticized for playing in the IPL 2008 and missing an international series a few months before.

Gayle scored a quickfire 88 in the opening game of the tournament and helped the Windies beat the mighty Australians.

They lost in the semi-final to Sri Lanka.

He was awarded the Most Valuable Player in the 2011 Indian Premier League and held the Orange Cap in 2012.

On 23 April 2013, He broke the record for the fastest ever T20 hundred in his landmark knock of 175 runs from 66 balls for Royal Challengers Bangalore against Pune Warriors India in the IPL, which is also the highest score ever by a batsman in T20 history.

He also equaled the record for the fastest 50 in T20 cricket while playing for Melbourne Renegades in the Big Bash League.

He last played in a Test match in September 2014, against Bangladesh.

After initially expressing his desire to retire from ODIs after the 2019 Cricket World Cup He nonetheless played in the ODI series against India after the World Cup playing his final and 301st ODI match wearing the special jersey number 301 in August 2019, against India.

In December 2020, Gayle was included in the ICC T20I Team of the Decade.

In September 2021, he was included in the West Indies squad for 2021 ICC Men's T20 World Cup.

Gayle started his cricket career with Lucas Cricket Club in Kingston, Jamaica.

Gayle claimed: "If it was not for Lucas, I don't know where I would be today. Maybe on the streets."

Lucas Cricket Club's nursery has been named in honour of Gayle.