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ICC World T20 2016: Why Chris Gayle didn't open the innings for West Indies against Sri Lanka

Why didn't Gayle open?

Although it didn't hurt West Indies' chances of winning the match, most of the crowd at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru were left disappointed as they didn't get to witness Chris Gayle bat.

The chants of “We want Gayle, we want Gayle" was ringing around the stadium ever since the West Indian openers were getting ready to come out until the very end when Russell hit the winning runs.

Many would have come to the crease expecting fireworks from the West Indian opener but they were robbed of their wish as not only did Sri Lanka post a below-par total but Gayle also didn't come out to open the innings with Johnson Charles having gone out of the field while Sri Lanka were batting with a hamstring injury.

After winning the toss, the West Indian skipper decided to bowl and it meant the capacity crowd would have to wait for a while before seeing him bat. But a Sri Lankan collapse meant that a Gayle masterclass was unlikely given their low total.

Although Gayle picked up a good diving catch in the ninth over to get rid of Milinda Siriwardana, he didn't stick around in the pitch for too much longer as he picked up a hamstring injury while fielding soon after that.

He was replaced by Jason Holder and he didn't field towards the end of the innings. As he had spent time off the field, he couldn't open along with Charles. And because he was also injured, it was reported from West Indies that he would only come out to bat, if it was absolutely necessary because of his left hamstring.

Time off the field was the reason why Gayle didn’t come out

What made it even worse was that when Denesh Ramdin was out in the 13th over, Gayle was getting ready to come out but umpire Ian Gould held him back because of the time he was off the field. At the time, he needed at least two wickets to fall or 11 minutes to pass, so Andre Russell came in his place instead.

After that, the crowd thought Gayle was coming out to bat when Andre Fletcher looked to have edged behind to the keeper off the first ball of the 16th over, but it turned out that the ball had bounced before Dinesh Chandimal took the catch.

When Russell skied a ball in the 18th over, it looked as though the southpaw might come in and finish things but the fielder at third man dropped it and the crowd wouldn't get their wish in the end.

At one point Ian Gould even managed to push Gayle, who was standing near the edge of the rope inside, in jest and was seen having a laugh as well. Unfortunately for the capacity crowd in Bengaluru, they were robbed of an opportunity to watch their star player do what he does best as they all left the ground without watching him bat.

Here is what Gayle tweeted after West Indies won:

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