Abu Dhabi: West Indies legend Chris Gayle clarified that he did not announce his retirement after their final T20 World Cup 2021 game on Saturday and and expressed his desire to play his farewell game in his hometown Jamaica. Denying all the speculations after he hinted that he was singing off from the sport.
Alongside Bravo, who played his last match against Australia, Gayle was also given a guard of honour on his way off the field at the end of the match. The Windies great was seen signing on the camera and also distributed his cricketing gears to the fans in the stands after his team lost the match by eight wickets.
“I was just having some fun today. Put everything that happened aside. I was just interacting with the fans in the stands and just having some fun seeing as it’s going to be my last World Cup game.” Gayle said after the match.
“I didn’t announce any retirement but if they actually give me one game in Jamaica to go in front of my home crowd, then I can say ‘hey guys, thank you so much. Well, I would love to play one more World Cup. But I don’t think they will allow me. Let’s see. If not, I’ll announce it a long time and then I’ll be joining DJ Bravo in the backend and say thanks to each and everyone but I can’t say that as yet.” he added.
After making his international debut for West Indies in 1999, Gayle was a permanent fixture for the team in Test and ODI matches. He played his first T20I match in 2006 and went on to play 79 matches, scoring 1899 runs at a strike rate of 137.50. While amassing 10,480 runs in 301 one-day internationals.
“I’ve been through a lot of struggle. You mentioned the heart condition but I’ve had a phenomenal career. I want to give thanks to actually be standing here today, aged 42 still going strong. The career has been really great. I’ve had a bit of hiccup here and there. I’ve shed blood, I’ve shed tears in West Indies cricket, you name it, one leg, one hand, I’m still batting for West Indies,” said Gayle.
The 42-year old, a legend in the shortest format of the game has a phenomenal batting record. He scored 14,321 runs in 453 matches, averaging 36.44 including 87 fifties and 22 centuries. He has also appeared in 103 Tests for West Indies scoring 7214 runs.
“It was a pleasure always to represent West Indies, I’m very passionate about West Indies. It really hurts bad when we lose games and we don’t get the result and the fans so much more is very important to me because I’m an entertainer. When I don’t get the chance to entertain them it really hurt me a lot. You might not that see that expression, I might not show those sort of emotions, but I’m gutted inside for the fans, amd especially for this World Cup as well.” he signed off.
