ICC T20 World Cup 2016: Chris Gayle preparing to hammer India in the semi-final
Big-hitting West Indian batsman Chris Gayle is looking to topple the Indian juggernaut at the ICC T20 World Cup 2016 by scoring a century against them in the semi-final at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
Speaking to the Mumbai Mirror on the eve of the highly anticipated clash between India and West Indies, Gayle said, "This is a perfect opportunity to actually start the tournament and try and pick up where I left off, get a big one for the team and put them in a winning position."
Having started the tournament with a bang with an unbeaten century against England, the southpaw missed out on an opportunity to bat in the game against Sri Lanka due to an on-field injury. Gayle returned in the match against South Africa, where he picked up 2 crucial wickets but failed with the bat as he was dismissed for just 4 off 2 balls.
Considering the importance of his presence in the semi-final against India, the West Indies team management rested Chris Gayle in the Afghanistan game. It turned out to be the only match that they lost in the tournament by a margin of 6 runs.
Gayle looks to be mighty impressed by the way the West Indies have performed despite missing some key players like Pollard and Narine.
Emphasising on their bench strength in T20 cricket, the great West Indian stated, "That goes to show the strength of West Indies cricket back home. The guys who actually replaced the first picks, someone like Carlos Brathwaite, he won us the game against South Africa and the bench is still strong enough."
Asked about whether there were any positives from the loss to Afghanistan, Gayle pointed out, "The only positive you can look from the Afghanistan game is the motive."