Chris Gayle withdraws from Lanka Premier League
Fearless Caribbean batsman Chris Gayle has pulled out of the 2020 Lanka Premier League. The player's franchise, the Kandy Tuskers, confirmed the news on Wednesday. The Kandy Tuskers franchise is owned by Bollywood director Sohail Khan, the brother of Bollywood actor Salman Khan.
Gayle was set to join former Indian all-rounder Irfan Pathan, Munaf Patel, Kusal Perera, and Liam Plunkett among many others in the team in the inaugural edition of the Lanka Premier League. The Kandy Tuskers took used their official Twitter handle to break the news.
"We are sad to announce that Chris Gayle will not be playing for us in this year's @LPLT20," the Kandy Tuskers account tweeted.
The swashbuckling opening batsman has an unmatchable T20 record. Gayle has the most number of sixes, the most number of centuries, and the highest individual T20 score to his name. His withdrawal from the tournament is certainly a huge loss for the Kandy Tuskers.
The Lanka Premier League has been facing problems ahead of its inaugural edition
Cricket fans seemed to be in a bit of a frenzy after the news broke out, as they would miss the opportunity to see the Universe Boss smashing sixes to all corners of the park. The LPL franchise has not named any replacements for Chris Gayle yet.
The Lanka Premier League has continuously been running into problems right from its inception. Now, with just a week for LPL 2020 to commence, the tournament has seen another player withdraw from the tournament.
Yesterday, former Pakistan captain Sarfraz Ahmed also pulled out of the tournament. Ahmed was supposed to captain the Galle Gladiators franchise, but will now be unavailable because of his commitments to the national side.
The Lanka Premier League starts on 26th November and will go on till 16th December with a double-header on each day.