Gayle sticks to guns on Sarwan slur

Kingston, May 16: Chris Gayle has said he “stands by his comments” against former teammate Ramnaresh Sarwan but conceded that his actions were damaging to West Indies cricket, prompting the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) organisers to close the controversial issue.

Gayle, who was signed by St Lucia Zouks for the 2020 season of the CPL, had called Sarwan “worse than Coronavirus” in a video post, accusing the Guyanese of plotting his exit from CPL outfit Jamaica Tallawahs. Gayle admitted, in a statement issued by CPL Technical Committee (CTC) chief P. J. Patterson, that his description of Sarwan was “damaging Cricket West Indies, and to the CPL tournament and its brand”.

“I made these videos with one single intention to explain to the fans in Jamaica the reasons behind... my second departure from the Tallawahs franchise. It was my greatest wish to finish my CPL career in Jamaica... with the franchise that I had previously led to two CPL titles,” Gayle said in the statement.

“In so far as my resentment at the treatment, I stand by my comments in those videos. My words were spoken from the heart. Having said that... I now realise how portions of my comments may be viewed as being damaging to CWI, and to CPL and its brand,” he added.

He said it was never his intention to damage the T20 tournament “as playing in the CPL has guaranteed an opportunity for the past seven years to play in front of the great fans of the Caribbean”.

— PTI