Cricket Players Biography: Chris Gayle

Chris Gayle Biography

Chris Gayle, a West Indian cricketer, was born on September 21, 1979, in Kingston, Jamaica. He is fondly called “Cramps” or “Mr. Cool” and is an all-rounder, who bats left-handed and bowls right-arm off break.

Chris Gayle played his first international Test match on March 16, 2000 against Zimbabwe, and in July 2001, he set up a 214-run partnership with Daren Ganga, a teammate, which became the record for opening partnerships at Queens Sports Club, Bulawayo. By the end of 2002, he scored three centuries against India and also became the fourth West Indian to score 1000 runs in a calendar year. In January 2004, Chris Gayle hit a century off 79 balls when chasing a first-inning South African score of 532, following which he again scored a century against Bangladesh.

In 2005, Chris Gayle was included in the Test series against South Africa, during which he played in the fourth match in Antigua and made 317 runs, which is his career best. It was also the first triple century against South Africa. During the 2005-06 tour of New Zealand, Chris Gayle opened the batting in the three-Test series and scored 235 runs, becoming the first West Indian to cross the 200-run mark.

Chris Gayle made his One Day International (ODI) debut on September 11, 1999 against India and was included in the West Indian squad for the 2003 World Cup. At the 2006 Champions Trophy, he was a part of the team that played at the finals against Australia and went on amass 474 runs in that tournament, which were 150 runs more than any other player. Chris Gayle also scalped eight wickets and in recognition of his impressive performances he was named as the Player of the Tournament. He featured at the 2007 World Cup and scored a remarkable 79 runs off 58 balls in a match against England. Chris Gayle joined the list of ace players like Vivian Richards, Sanath Jayasuriya and Brian Lara, who have three or more scores above 150.

Chris Gayle captained the West Indies at the ODI series in England and Ireland, and led the team to a 2-1 win against England. He also led the team in the Test series against South Africa, which finished in a 1-1 draw. In August 2008, he made his 16th ODI century, 110 runs off 77 balls, in the final match against Canada, and led his team to a seven-wicket win at the Tri-series hosted by Canada.

Chris Gayle played his first Twenty20 international (T20I) on February 16, 2006 against New Zealand and in 2007, he scored 117 runs off just 57 balls, in the opening match against South Africa at the International Cricket Council (ICC) World T20 Championship. He is the only batsman to have hit a century in the Twenty20 international and also holds the record of the highest innings in a T20I. As of 2008, Chris Gayle is the only cricketer to have hit centuries in all three formats of international cricket and has also been nominated for the Twenty20 International Performance of the Year.

In April 2008, Chris Gayle was purchased by the Kolkata Knight Riders team for $800,000, making him one of the most expensive players of the Kolkata team at the 2008 Indian Premier League (IPL). However, he failed to play as he had to join the West Indies team for a series against Australia.

When not playing cricket, Chris Gayle enjoys playing video games and also likes watching Tom and Jerry shows in the television.

Chris Gayle