He hits it Hard! Wrong! He hits it very High and Hard, but seldom when the stakes are HIGH. Meet Christopher Henry Gayle, who his die-hards call “Chris ‘Mr Sixer’ Gayle” with love during the unavoidable temptation of Fast Food Cricket, i.e T-20’s.
Crowds simply love him; he is the perfect showman for this showpiece cricket, stadium filler, a craze, and in the end, a phenomena. People buy heavy-priced tickets to entertain themselves and the 6 foot 3 inch giant from Jamaica makes sure he leaves his fans stuffed and gasping for breath.
Thanks to festivals like IPL, Big Bash etc, the flamboyant Gayle finds himself as the brightest star of modern cricket. Talk to kids and youngsters of today and no one wants to learn the crafts of Inzamam, Tendulkar or Ponting, they would rather be curious to know if Gayle could match the height of the giants of “Jack the Giant Slayer”.
And that’s where his skyrocketing stature hits ground. In my modest opinion he could be best described as a juggler who would occasionally show his brilliant act here and there, but when it comes to big matches, Gayle fails to stand amongst the big guys.
No one would dare doubt his killing instincts. He would force even the best of bowlers to buy sleeping pills. But the flashy opener refused to put an ear when coaches tried to teach him skills beyond the early glitz. How to finish a match, how to be a true match winner?
Big players rise on big occasions, Inzamam captured the imagination of a nation in 92, Aravinda De Silva made Aussies bite dust in 96, Ponting tore India apart in 2003 and Dhoni pocketed victory on 2012. Even our ever adorable Afridi made history at the 2009 T-20 WC. Gayle sadly has nothing to boost but personal records.
I know, pointing fingers at Gayle, especially after his mammoth 175 is like putting your hands inside a honey bee comb. I can imagine how fans would be sharpening their daggers, but before to slit open my throat, take a moment to view his big match statistics.
2006 Champions Trophy final versus Australia, a hasty 27 ball 37 didn’t do the Caribbeans any good. 2012 T-20 WC finals against Sri-Lanka, a hopeless 3 of 16 deliveries. Forget the rest, he fell flat even in his favorite hunting ground, the final of IPL 2011 where he broke a million hearts and bought a duck.
Few players would be lucky enough to have played in three major finals yet left their fans pulverized. The only noteworthy performance in memory would be the semifinals of 2012 T-20 WC where he pushed back the Aussies with an injury prone 41 ball 75.
Chris is a man who lives his life on his terms and is never afraid to make his views heard. No surprise he highlighted his dislike for Test cricket on countless occasions. T-20 is his baby, and it’s not only him. Look around and you would find an endless list of ambitious cricketers craving for the shorter format, and why won’t they? Twenty20 is where the money is, and increasingly, it’s where the players want to be. Aside from the Ashes, and perhaps India v Australia, the prestige of Test cricket is gradually ebbing away.
Following the footsteps of Afridi, Gayle has successfully made himself part of the 20 over folklore. At 33 and still going strong, Gayle would have strength to last till the 2015 WC, which would give him and the Caribbean’s at least 3 more shots at victory.
Would Gayle like to be remembered as an athlete who brought home shinning metals like countryman Usain Bolt, or a half-cooked prodigy who would drop the cup even before lifting it? Let him decide himself.
No comments:
Post a Comment