Chris Gayle intends to play until the 2019 World Cup
37-year-old Chris Gayle has had a remarkable international career having achieved a number of things in Test and ODI cricket before being at the forefront of a T20 revolution across the world.
With his exploits in the past few years, people have cast him as purely an attacking batsman who enjoys playing the shortest format of the game, but his numbers will paint a different story.
In a 14-year long Test career, he played over 100 Tests, amassing upwards of 8000 runs with 15 centuries at an average of over 40. In ODIs, he has scored nearly 10,000 runs with 22 centuries. Add this to his T20 career, where he produced records aplenty and won hearts over the world, it surely makes him one of the most complete cricketers ever.
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But, at 37, the Jamaican has one eye on his future. "I am not playing in the Big Bash as I am spending time with my family and recuperating from an injury. I am eyeing a comeback during Pakistan Super League (PSL) and then the Indian Premier League. If I am fit and in form, I would still like to play for the West Indies, not only in T20 but in ODIs as well. If you ask me, I would like to play till the 2019 World Cup in England. That's a target I have set for myself."
Primarily relegated to playing cricket in T20 leagues around the world, Gayle has had a long and frosty relationship with the West Indies Cricket Board. With the expanse of the T20s, there are more cricketers who are facing the same fate as they battle with problems with their board. Apart from a number of West Indies cricketers, England’s Kevin Pietersen is a primary example of the same.
However, he doesn’t believe that playing in T20 leagues around the world and giving it almost equal importance as international cricket is necessarily a bad thing for upcoming West Indies cricketers. "You cannot rule out that possibility that Gen Next in the Caribbean will be more inclined to play T20 leagues. If you are a professional cricketer, you would want to have a good career. With so many leagues across the globe, one needs to accept it as a reality today."
After his retirement, Gayle can prove to be the perfect case study for cricket administrators around the world due to the fact that he was good enough for international cricket, but also equally attractive to franchises around the world, and it is in the ICC’s best interest to ensure that these players are able to balance playing for their countries as well as the leagues.
He can even serve as an administrator himself, having gone through so much in his career, and help West Indies cricket from the inside.