Have you ever think about Chris Gayle Farewell Match?
Chris Gayle wished for a farewell Test. He wanted to have a last blast in red-ball cricket in front of his home crowd.
But West Indies selectors chose rationality over sentiments and did not grant the wish of the Universe Boss wish. The Windies squad for two-match Test series has been announced and Gayle could not make it.
No emotional farewell Test for Gayle
Gayle, who had played his last Test match in September 2014, gave hint during the World Cup about playing one last Test match before bringing down the final on his international career.
West Indies are scheduled to play two Test matches against India in the series starting from August 22.
The second and last Test of the fixture will be played from August 30 at Gayle’s home ground Sabina Park, Jamaica.
What he wished for is a perfect Chris Gayle Farewell Match, one last hurrah at home. From 103 Test matches, Gayle has managed to score 7214 runs in Test cricket so far with the highest score of 333.
But recently his usual charm was missing in Test cricket.
He has been almost confined to the limited-overs cricket and franchise T20 leagues.
Amid his ability to play power-packed hard-hitting shots somehow his talent of playing long Test innings is lost nowadays.
So the selectors have decided to remain practical and keep faith on the squad that earned a 2-1 series victory over England earlier this year at home.
Injured Alzarri Joseph and Jomel Warrican have been kept out as off-spinner Rahkeem Cornwall is ready to make his Test debut after taking 260 wickets at 23.90 apiece in 55 first-class matches.
West Indies ‘A’ team captain Shamarh Brooks is another new recruit for the series.
Records waiting for Universe Boss
Gayle will be appearing for 300 ODIs as the first West Indies cricketer on Sunday.
Brian Lara is the second one in the list with 299 ODIs to his name.
Gayle will also get two chances in these last two international fixtures to become the highest run-getter for West Indies in the 50-over format surpassing Brian Lara.
The southpaw is on the verge of etching his name in the history book of West Indies cricket as he is just nine runs away from achieving the feat.
Lara has 10405 runs in 299 ODIs and Gayle currently has 10397 runs from the same number of ODIs.
The washed-out first fixture saw him adding just four runs to his name but he should be able to accumulate the required nine runs in two matches and hopefully, the rain will not play the spoilsport.
Apart from Lara and Gayle, other three top scorers in the 50-over format for Windies cricket are, Shivnarine Chanderpaul (12408 runs), Desmond Haynes (8648 runs), and Sir Vivian Richards (6721 runs).
Moreover, if Gayle manages to smash a century in this series and ends up with 107 runs, he will also become the leading run-scorer for the Windies against India in ODIs.
He is currently at the fifth place with Desmond Haynes leading the charts with 1357 runs.
So whether he gets a Test farewell or not, he has all the opportunities to have a blast in his finale.
The big-hitter will certainly be looking to prove a point to the selectors, which will certainly augur well for the hosts who are looking for some inspiration in the ongoing series.
His recent records in ODI against India are not that great. Numbers suggest that the left-hander last scored a 50-plus score against India in June 2009 in Kingston.
Gayle four hundred and five fifties against the Asian giants but his last century came in 2006.
West Indies Test squad for India series
Jason Holder (c), Kraigg Brathwaite, Darren Bravo, Shamarh Brooks, John Campbell, Roston Chase, Rahkeem Cornwall, Shane Dowrich, Shannon Gabriel, Shimron Hetmyer, Shai Hope, Keemo Paul, Kemar Roach.
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