Chris Gayle to quit one-dayers after 2019 World Cup
NEW DELHI: Chris Gayle will end his West Indies playing career at the end of the team’s campaign in the ICC World Cup to be played in England and Wales from May 30. The explosive left-hander made the announcement on Sunday, ahead of the ODI series against England starting this week.
The 39-year-old has been named in the squad for the first two matches of the series, which kicks off in Bridgetown on Wednesday, indicating that the batsman is still in the reckoning for a swansong at the mega tournament.
Gayle is the second most prolific one-day run-getter for West Indies – Brian Lara heads the list -- having aggregated 9,727 from 284 games. He has 23 triple-figure knocks with a top score of 215. The Jamaican player has been in and out of the national team and differences with the Windies Board have only made those appearances infrequent.
His Test career ended in 2014, and he has been busy playing in various franchise Twenty20 leagues around the world. He pulled out of the Windies touring party last year and has spoken about fatigued caused by the globetrotting for T20 leagues.
However, Gayle played in the World Cup qualifying tournament in Zimbabwe in March, 2016. He helped West Indies, having slipped down the rankings to miss out on automatic qualification, go through by topping the Super Sixes stage.
Although skipper Jason Holder has at times sounded weary of answering questions about Gayle, the batsman’s experience and batting could be key and the younger players can play around him. He has struggled with his fitness in the last few years, but Gayle still remains a crowd-puller.