Chris Gayle

Chris Gayle:

Chris Gayle made his international debut for the West Indies against India in 1999, just 10 days short of his 20th birthday, and his Test debut soon after in 2000 against Zimbabwe. Gayle soon made his presence felt, notching up his first Test ton with 175 against Zimbabwe. The West Indies had begun their downward slide at that time, and Gayle was among the few bright spots for them. At a time when openers were changed as often as a new born baby's diapers, Gayle was the one permanent fixture at the top of the order. He continued his good run with the bat, notching up tons regularly - with a 79-ball hundred in Cape Town in 2004, a particularly special one.
He ran into a rough patch in 2004, when a rampant Steve Harmison worked him over regularly, dismissing him four times in seven innings and exposing his lack of footwork cruelly, as the West Indies were crushed 3-0. After that lean series, Gayle was dropped from the side, albeit due to sponsorship issues (regarding a dispute with the WICB). However, he came back with a vengeance, scoring a career-best 317 in Antigua against South Africa. He then had a fine Champions Trophy, scoring 474 runs with three tons, and bagging eight wickets as West Indies reached the final, losing to Australia.
Gayle was the first international Twenty20 centurion, and thus the first cricketer to score centuries in all three formats of the game.

Gayle is one of five players to make three or more scores in excess of 150 in ODIs.

Gayle is the first West Indian to score more than 7,000 runs and take more than 150 wickets in ODIs.

Chris Gayle is probably the most powerful hitter of a cricket ball - he cleared the Lord Tennyson school outside The Oval when he swung Brett Lee. In the same over, he hit one that landed on the roof of The Oval. But the most monstrous hit of all was the one he managed against Nathan Hauritz in Perth which dropped on the Lillee-Marsh stand's roof, that was estimated by commentator Ian Healy to be approximately 140 metres long.

His Career :