Gayle vs. WICB: West Indies Cricket The Loser

The Caribbean Kings have lost much of their earlier glory, when they were a dreaded side. Tall fast bowlers and aggressive batsmen are a far cry in the new generation Windies players. After Brian Lara the cricket future of West Indies seemed further bleak. During these times only ray of hope for West Indies cricket seemed to be Chris Gayle. This gigantic Jamaican batsmen has been time and again compared to the West Indian great Sir Viv Richards. Indeed, he is the sole player to have two triple centuries at the test level. He was also an inspirational leader, often performing from the front whilst his reign. He has 13 centuries in tests and 19 centuries in the ODI format of the game. His power and timing often leave the opponents dazed. Most of the critics feel on his day Gayle is unstoppable. He is also an able off spin bowler, chipping in with economic overs and wickets at key junctures of the game.

Gayle Caught in the Mire of Controversy

Though Gayle is so immensely talented yet he finds it hard to get a selection call to the West Indies national team. Estranged relationships with the WICB seem to be the sole reason. Gayle has a long history of conflicts with the board. In 2005 Gayle refused to shed off his personal sponsorship with Cable and Wireless when the board got new sponsors in the form of Digicel. WICB offered a strict notice to all the contracted players that they should drop all their contracts with Digicel’s rivals, Cable and Wireless. When Gayle refused he was dropped from the first test squad against South Africa. But he retained his place in the second test after dropping his sponsorship. In 2007 during West Indies tour of England, Gayle criticised some actions and decisions of the board publicly and thus got an official warning from the WICB. In 2009 he was also criticised for wanting to give up West Indies captaincy due to excessive pressure and predicting that test cricket would eventually be replaced by Twenty20.

Playing Another Memorable Knock for West Indies

After the World Cup 2011 the tensions climbed even higher between the board and Gayle. He was dropped from the home series against Pakistan sighting his abdominal injury which the Board said had been picked up during the World Cup. Gayle was quite surprised with such declarations and soon he asked for a No Objection Certificate to play in the IPL. He made the situation even worse when he recently spoke against the board and defended himself on a national radio channel. The WICB viewed this against the code of conduct. They issued a show cause notice to the ace batsman and asked for explanation. While WICB told the media that they repeatedly contacted Gayle to resolve the issues and such comments on national channels were viewed as acts of betrayal. Gayle on the other hand, told in his explanation that he was never contacted and was frustrated at being repeatedly dropped from the national team inspite of performing so well over the years. According to Gayle "I wanted to play and represent West Indies. This was my ultimate goal... but I was forced into this decision because teams were picked, (and) I was not informed about what was happening".

After Winning Knock in CL T20 2011

In his absence the West Indies is struggling even against the meek Bangladeshis. His recent performances in the IPL and recently concluded Champions League T20 speak hoards about his class and rich vein of form. In the 6 matches played by Royal Challengers Bangalore (Gayle’s team), he scored 257 runs at an average of 42.83. With Gayle in the West Indies team there are high chances of the team doing well and putting the best foot forward for the future. But for that to happen both sides have soften their stance!