Chris Gayle's debut in International Cricket

After producing world-class bowlers such as Micheal Holding and Courtney Walsh, the island of Jamica in the West Indies gave rise to another dominating player in Chris Gayle and his debut was against India in September 1999. It was the first of three One Day International matches in Toronto, Canada. Gayle was selected as a middle-order batsman and came into bat at number four. He however had an ordinary start to his ODI career, lasting just eight deliviries and scoring one run. West Indies went on to lose the match by eight wickets, and the three match series 0-3.

The following year, Gayle was selected to play in a Test series against Zimbabwe at Port-of-Spain, Trinidad. The West Indies side were expected to roll over the touring Zimbabwean team. The left-handed (batsman) Gayle was picked along with Wavell Hinds, another left-handed batsman, in the squad for the two Test matches. Gayle scored 33 in the first innings of the Test match, which surprisingly was the second highest score in the innings behind the other debutant Wavell Hinds (who made 46*).

In the West Indies second innings, he was dimissed for a first ball duck by Zimbabwe’s Heath Streak. But inspite of setting Zimbabwe a mere 99 runs to win the Test, West Indies won the Test match by 35 runs thanks to a combined effort by the pace quartet. Gayle’s contribution with the ball was three wickets in the match, which included two wickets in two balls to wrap up the Zimbabwe first innings.

Cricket has rarely seen characters like Chris Gayle. He has bludgeoned bowling attacks over the years, and is one of only four players ( the others being Sir Donald Bradman, Brain Lara and Virender Sehwag) to hit two triple centuries in Test cricket. He also scored the first-ever century in an international T20 cricket game during the inaugural 20-20 World Cup in 2007 when he blazed his way to 117 off 57 balls (4x7, 10x6). He is easily one of the most entertaining cricket players to have taken the field, and his run in T20 cricket especially in the IPL when he opened the batting for the Royal Challengers Bangalore franchise, thrilled crowds across India.