One of the biggest names in T20 cricket, West Indies opener Chris Gayle, revealed that he is absent from the ongoing edition of the Indian Premier League because he felt like he “was not treated properly.”
Gayle stands seventh in the list of most runs scored in the IPL with 4965 runs in 142 matches. Additionally, he claimed the record for the highest individual score in IPL history with 175 against Pune Warriors in 2013.
After stints with Kolkata Knight Riders and Royal Challengers Bangalore, his stocked dipped in the auctions after being released by RCB. He was bought by then Kings XI Punjab at his base price of Rs 2 Cr in 2018 and found form for them in the following years but remained in and out of the Punjab Kings Playing XI in 2020 and 2021.
Last year, Gayle featured in 10 games and scored 193 runs at a strike rate of 125.32, while in 2020, he played just seven matches and amassed 288 runs.
“For the last couple of years, the way the IPL went about, I felt like I wasn’t treated properly. So I thought ‘okay, you (Gayle) 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,” Gayle told Mirror.
“There is always going to be life after cricket so I’m just trying to adapt to normality.”
However, the big-hitting opener is determined to return to the league next year and expressed his desire to win the title with either RCB or PBKS, to get the only major T20 trophy missing from his impressive CV.
“Next year I’m coming back, they need me! 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,” he said.
“I love to explore and I love challenges so let’s see what happens.”