Chris Gayle has gone from an aggressive opening batsman, who occasionally takes the opposition to the cleaners, to now the most powerful, feared and consistently destructive cricketera on the planet. Following his axing from the West Indies squad that played against Pakistan in late April and early May 2011, Gayle was left with no cricket ahead of him anytime soon. Luckily for Gayle, an urgent call came his way with good news. Dirk Nannes would be unavailable during the Indian Premier League twenty20 through injury and the Royal Challengers Bangalore wanted Gayle as his replacement, the rest is history.
Gayle found his touch almost immediately, announcing himself with a blistering 102 not out from a mere 55 balls. From this point on there was no stopping the irresistible force that is Chris Gayle. The powerhouse went on to thump an outstanding 608 runs in just 12 innings (four less innings than his two nearest contenders on the run scoring ladder) at an average of 67.55 and strike rate of 183.13 making him the leading run scorer of the IPL 2011. Plenty of stats to back him up but wait there's more. He became the first and only man to score two centuries in the same IPL season, with his highest score being 107. Along with that he smoked 56 fours and 44 sixes, a total of 488 runs in boundaries. His immense power meant he physically ran less than 20 per cent of the runs he scored.
I for one, was thrilled to watch several of his best innings, particularly when it seemed any ball he hit in the air would travel for six. His huge upper body strength and power meant timing was almost unnecessary for Gayle to clear the pickets. He would either chose six or four and follow through hard and true. It was often mentioned during the television telecast, that Gayle was one of the strongest men in international cricket, his training regime more that of a body builder than cricketer. Words certainly ran thin when looking for superlatives to describe Gayle's midfield antics. At one stage, I recall the big screen at the ground clearly stating, "We've run out of words", following another display of mass superiority over the bowler.It hadn't taken long for Chris Gayle to show the world he meant business and while it may have left the West Indies Cricket Board a little red faced, they persisted in not selecting him. One of the greatest shames in recent cricketing memory, is the way he has been treated by his home board. The best T20 batsman in the world--in my own opinion--is not being selected to play for a mediocre T20 team, that has barely anything on offer to keep him out of a place. While Gayle still maintains that he wants to play for the West Indies, the WICB just won't let him, regardless of just how damn good he really is. Let the kid play is all I can say. No bigger statement could he have made following being dropped than to demolish any bowler he faced--the likes of Brett Lee, Dale Steyn, Muttiah Muralitharan, Shane Warne--none of them could stand in his way. He didn't need to be technically correct, time the ball with perfection or be fast when running between the wickets. Gayle's own brand of cricket was on display in the best way possible and for many it was pure perfection.
Looking back on Gayle's IPL season, the question remains. Is this sort of batting good or bad for the game? While there is absolutely no doubting its entertainment factor was huge. Gayle's lack of technique, stand and deliver attitude, however effective as it may have been, was watched by hundreds of thousands of young kids each evening, all wanting to bat 'like that'. With this in mind, my biggest criticisms of twenty20 cricket are brought to the forefront. Lately we see test cricketers dangling the bat out to dry and snicking out, because they feel as though they have to play more and more balls. This stems purely from the expansion of T20 cricket, where obviously playing every ball is a necessity to score runs. Chris Gayle has certainly become a massive role model. However in my opinion a role model must be, in cricket at least, someone who's technique or mannerisms are proper, authentic and sound.
Having said this I find some other fantastic batsman in T20 cricket to be the best to watch across all formats, particularly in test cricket. Michael Hussey, Tendulkar and most recently Shaun Marsh, have demonstrated that building around a firm technique can transform into runs on any stage. Particularly in Marsh's case, a young guy who was first noticed through his ability to score big runs in T20 cricket. He was the top scorer in the first ever edition of the IPL, however, he demonstrated great composure and patience in his first two test matches. These players know when and which balls to leave alone, they wait for the worst deliveries and then they pounce, put them away and score their runs. Watching Hussey in test cricket has always been one of the best treats for me. A man who is so focused on success that each and every movement is based solely around practicality and effectiveness. However, Hussey has also demonstrated that these simple principles are just as effective, while maybe not as entertaining, when put into practice in twenty20 cricket. Hussey's most recent IPL was mostly successful scoring 492 runs, with an average of 41.00 and a strike rate of 118.84.
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