The Jamaican Chris Gayle is making a comeback to the CPL. He will make a comeback to one of his old teams, St. Kitts and Nevis Patriots team, for the forthcoming CPL 2021 season. However, St. Kitts and Nevis will be the hosts of the ninth season of the CPL starting from 28th August and finals on 19th September. There will be 33 games, which will be played at the Warner Park ground.
Last year, Chris stirred debate by not taking part in the tournament. Then, just before the 2020 season began, Chris made a rancorous retreat from Jamaica Tallawahs and said coach Sarwan Ramnaresh was the cause.
After Gayle made an acrimonious exit from Jamaica Tallawahs, he was said to play for St Lucia Zouks. But before the CPL 2020 drafting, he pulled out of the tournament, citing personal issues. Chris Gayle started his CPL career with the Jamaica Tallawahs franchise. He was in the team for four seasons, 2013 to 2016, and helped them win two titles.
However, in the 2017 CPL edition, he moved to St. Kitts and Nevis Patriots. Next, Chris Gayle played for St. Kitts and Nevis for two seasons before returning to Jamaica Tallawahs in 2019. And now Gayle returns to St Kitts & Nevis Patriots for yet another CPL season.
Gayle is set to play for St. Kitts and Nevis.
In the 2021 CPL drafting, St. Kitts & Nevis (SKT Patriots) have retained nine players, and Gayle returns to the St Kitts team. The players retained are Fabian Allen, Jon Russ Jaggesar, Rayad Emrit, Evin Lewis, Sheldon Cottrell, Dominic Drakes, Sherfane Rutherford, and Joshua Da Silva.
In addition, St. Kitts & Nevis patriots traded in Bravo from Trinbago Knight Riders. In addition, the franchise let go of players like Kieran Powell, Sohail Tanvir, Ben Dunk, Denesh Ramdin, and Chris Lynn. However, amid all this, Gayle returns to St Kitts & Nevis Patriots for this year’s CPL season.
The 41-year-old all-rounder is not new to CPL, having featured in the 2013, 2016, and 2019 seasons. Gayle’s return to St Kitts’s team is a good thing, as he captained the team in 2017 to their first-ever CPL finals. It was a thrilling final against Trinbago Knight Riders where they won by three wickets. The captain of St Kitts & Nevis this season is Rayad.
Chris Gayle is known as the Bradman of the T20 cricket in the player draft. He is Jamaican-born and plays for West Indies, and he had an outstanding International and domestic career. Chris is the only cricketer to make more than 14000 runs and over 1000 sixes in T20 cricket.
Gayle became the first cricketer to hit the 10000 run mark in a T20 career. Additionally, his runs were at an average of 37.86, accompanied by a strike rate of 146.41. Chris Gayle has hit 22 centuries and 86 half-centuries with a score of 175*. Additionally, he has also hit 1073 fours and 1017 sixes in his T20 career.
Gayle Domestic and International Career
Gayle participated in his first-class cricket for Jamaica at the West Indies domestic league at 19 years. In March 1999, Gayle made his international debut for the West Indies in an ODI match versus India. He has been a familiar face in the West Indies squad since his debut. In the ICC T20 World Cup, he captained the West Indies T20 squad, where they lost to Sri Lanka in the semi-finals.
Gayle has shown outstanding performances in Test cricket and breaking a couple of records. In December 2012, in a match against Bangladesh, he became the first man in Test cricket history to hit six off the game’s first ball.
In 2013 in a Test game against Zimbabwe, he beat Lara’s record for most sixes ever played by a West Indian player. So, Gayle has been a force to reckon with in cricket that he got a nomination for ICC’s Men’s T20 player of the decade in 2020.
He has played for several teams at the domestic level. He has played for Kolkata Knight Riders, Royal Challengers Bangalore, Worcestershire in England, and Punjab Kings in IPL. In addition, he has played in Australia for Western Australia, Sydney Thunder, and Melbourne Renegades. He has also played Pakistan for Karachi Kings and also in Afghanistan and Bangladesh.
Gayle’s return to the St Kitts team will see him play for a home team this CPL 2021 season. In this CPL 2021 schedule Chris Gayle will be hoping to impress the fans and all people watching around the globe.
The CPL organizing committee and the government have agreed to allow 50% of the 18000 Warner Park fan capacity. Nevertheless, all fans must follow the covid 19 guidelines and present their vaccination documents inspection by officials.
