| Player: | CH Gayle |
DateLine: 20th February 2007
In the new millennium even as the West Indies went from one disaster to another the batting of Chris Gayle came as a whiff of fresh air. The tall and imposing left-hander frequently poked fun at the textbook as with minimum footwork he still got to the pitch of the ball and dispatched it to all parts of the ground. Expressionless at the crease Gayle expresses himself best at decimating the bowling. His performance in the recent Champions Trophy in India where he won the Player of the Tournament award for his tally of 474 runs, three hundreds and eight wickets and being the star of his teams unexpected entry into the title clash came as no surprise for Gayle has been one of the most enterprising and innovative batsmen in world cricket for some time now. Showing absolutely no respect for the bowling Gayle pulls and hooks effortlessly, drives and cuts fluently and the fact that he maintains a strike rate of 80 in ODIs underlines what a dangerous player he can be even when confronted by the best of bowlers. A terror in the shorter version of the game Gayle carries this aggressive approach into Test cricket too and hit a 79-ball hundred against South Africa at Cape Town in January 2004 in the face of a South African total of 532. His attacking approach has not stopped Gayle from getting scores of 175 against Zimbabwe at Bulawayo in 2001, 204 against New Zealand at St Georges a year later and then topping all this with 317 against South Africa at St Johns in 2005. As a bowler Gayles slow off breaks have confounded many leading batsmen and he qualifies as a genuine all rounder in ODIs and perhaps even in Tests where he has a couple of five-wicket hauls.
