London: West Indies opening batter Chris Gayle has revealed the reason for his absence from the Indian Premier League 2022 season. Gayle, who has established himself as one of the most explosive batters in T20 cricket, believes he was not treated properly and did not get the respect he deserved in the cash-rich tournament.
The 42-year-old, has been a part of IPL since the 2009 season. However, the legendary IPL batter went unsold at the mega auction in February this year, for the first time in his career. So far Gayle has played for three teams in the cash-rich league, including the likes of Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and Punjab Kings (PBKS).
“For the last couple of years, the way the IPL went about, I felt like I wasn’t treated properly,” Gayle was quoted as saying by The Mirror.
“So I thought ‘okay, you didn’t get the respect you deserved after you did so much for the sport and IPL.’ So I said ‘okay, that’s it, I’m not going to bother to enter the draft,’ so I left it as it is. There is always going to be life after cricket so I’m just trying to adapt to normality,” he added.
However, the West Indian batsman has vowed to make a return to the league next year and has named two franchises he wants to win the title. “Next year I’m coming back, they need me!” Gayle chuckled.
“I’ve represented three teams in the IPL, Kolkata, RCB, and Punjab. Between RCB and Punjab, I would love to get a title, with one of those two teams. I had a great stint with RCB where I was more successful within the IPL, and Punjab, they’ve been good. I love to explore and I love challenges so let’s see what happens.” he signed off.
The West Indian batsman has earned the reputation of being one of the tournament’s greatest-ever players. The WI star has scored six hundred, which is the most by any batsmen, in 142 matches he scored 4965 runs. Gayle is also the seventh-highest run-scorer of all time in the history of the tournament.
