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A feature by Karthik Narayan

Ding-dong bell, Gayle is all and well... Can any bowler forget that song in their life after facing Christopher Gayle?? Can the ocean forget to spread a wave over?? Can there be a day without the sun?? And will the time forget to tick??? And so, will there be a day in this cricket world without a Gayle force rocking the cricketing fraternity?? Without the ball being dispatched to the fence with such power, authority and brute force?? Can there be a victory dance over a wicket, unlike none another?? NEVER!

Christopher...hmmm. No not Christopher Columbus. Not that gale-man who discovered America. This one is a Gayle-man that found how to hit the bowlers all around the World. When all of America and the Caribbean’s fought the Gale that had struck them (Ivan), this Gayle was elsewhere just creating havoc and toying the bowlers and tormenting them.

Gayle made his Test Debut along with Corey Colleymore. And he had a debut partner for his ODI Debut as well. His opening batting partner was none other than Wavell Hinds… that’s neato! He Had partners whenever he made his debut, but one thing’s for sure, he’s a stand-alone guy when it comes to delivering the goods with the bat. If that ball had a mouth, it would scream in the pain. When this batsman thumps it, it stays hit. No respite for the bowlers and that ball of 5 inches leather is all beaten up so fast it pleads for a bed in the ICU to rest along the bowlers’ prides. He hits everything that comes his way with a power that strikes the speed of knots when it screams pasts the fielders and crashes on to the boundary hoardings!

The sequence of a Gayle innings is this: THRASH-BASH-CASH! Simple yet effective. Thrashing the bowlers, then bashing on the prides in a hammering with both ball and bat. Finally cashing on the opportunity to score runs off every ball he faces, be it good ball or otherwise! And also to cash in on the good performances with the Man of the Match, makes his team mates feel proud of him.

As many as 9 centuries and 22 fifties in a hundred odd ODIs, the highlight of his career was the West Indies tour of India in 2002-03 when he crammed the Indian Bowlers, just managing to hurt their egos to the max with 3 centuries in his typical slam slam bang bang style. He has got most of his hundreds against the world class bowlers from Australia, India, South Africa and England. Every bowler has felt this force forced upon them that only such unique Forces can force.  Every bowler has faced the anomaly of an off day at the office with an encounter with this Dark Force. 

One can say he was typically built for the ODI game, but his test records are not bad at all. In 47 tests till date, he has already scored 6 test 100s, including a double ton against the Kiwis at St. George’s Park, Grenada in 2002. It is not the average that represents this cleanest striker of the ball’s phenomenon, but it is in the way he hits the bowlers, the way he scores the runs. At such a fast clip and with such power and brute force, making the bowlers dance and sing to his tunes, and his tune is pure Calypso. 

I am spell bound, Gayle struck, so I have not been able to straight pick a Gayle innings. If anything to tell about his great innings, I would say they are on the way, as this Jamaican batsman spreads his wings. He goes ahead to bring more laurels to the WI team, which is starting to peak at the right time. But just for the record, two Innings can be said for total domination status:

His double ton against the Kiwis. It was more a grinding innings..  After a lean patch, that innings was something like a shot in the arm for this thumping thumper as he showed total domination in that innings which  is also his highest score to date.

His 140 against India in the 4^th ODI at Ahmedabad, where his great knock came off 127 balls with 5 towering sixers, sickening the Indian bowling attack with his timing and attacking self. Though India won the match thanks to a magic innings from Dravid and Sanjay Bangar, that is the best knock of Gayle’s entire ODI career so far in terms of assault on bowlers.

Bowling at the death was never this easier, and exciting. Gayle, with his non turning balls, bowls the odd Yorkers and fastish off breaks which are good enough not to turn and he just tightens the screws at that time when the opposition batsman wants to maraud the bowling.  And look at his celebration over a wicket. He’s so stylish, and sets off that rhythm over that dance that he totally enjoys. Covering his face with his left arm, and just making a clean roundabout jog all over the pitch...that just brings joy to the average cricket fan seeing this Jamaican enjoying his cricket. That brings that sheer delight to the game, a refreshing thought that cricket is a fun game, and not a serious professionals running the game in a computer age with no human feelings. 

Well Gayle has most certainly left a hole in the hearts of the bowlers he has faced so far, and that hole cannot be patched sooner than his retirement date. That’s the best news probably for most bowlers, but not so soon. He has yet much to conquer, this Christopher still has to find that exclusive place in the hearts of the entire audience of the world.

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