Chris Gayle is cricket’s biggest star—smashing records and converting purists to the T20 format. Even Usain Bolt seems a little jealous.
Prone to hyperbole that rivals the enthusiasm of the roaring, flag-waving crowd in M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, the announcer calling this April 23 IPL matchup between the Royal Challengers Bangalore and visiting Pune Warriors is struggling for an appropriate adjective to describe what he’s seeing. With his repertoire nearly exhausted—“It’s as big as you get.” “That is a scorcher.” “Here we go again.” “What a bullet!”—Craig McMillan lands on the perfect description of this epic thrashing—one that would go down as the most historic innings in Twenty20 cricket history. “This is brutal!”
At the centre of the all-out assault is Chris Gayle, the imposing, charismatic star from Kingston, Jamaica, with the shoulder-length dreadlocks. During the innings, he flashes his megawatt smile between swings for fence-clearing sixes. Gayle hits a record 17 in all, and his 119-metre blast sails over the roof and gets this crowd in Royal Challengers red jumping. Standards fall as Gayle swings: He breaks the nine-year-old record for fastest-ever century in any format, reaching the mark in 30 balls. And his 175 not out off just 66 balls is the highest individual T20 score ever. Gayle takes off his helmet after his innings, drops to his knees and throws his hands in the air, all the while soaking in the adoration of the 40,000 witnesses to his greatness. Later, he breaks into a “Gangnam Style” dance. At six-foot-three, 215 lb., and wearing a bright red uniform, the 33-year-old should look ridiculous. And yet, somehow, Chris Gayle makes it cool.
Meet the IPL’s brightest star. In cricket-crazed Bangalore, India’s third most populous city, you won’t find a more recognizable man. “He looks like a huge monster when he walks,” RCB coach Ray Jennings says of Gayle, who is known for wearing flashy sunglasses, stylish clothes and plenty of bling. “He’s a definite showman. He’s dancing on the field, he’s his own person off it and he’s hitting balls out of the stadium, something no Indians can actually do.” To fully grasp how big his star has become, consider the fact that as soon as Gayle rewrote the record books last month, Usain Bolt, the world’s fastest man, raced to Twitter, effectively promising to shatter his own record in order to recapture the spotlight. Gayle, it seems, makes even the ultimate entertainer worry about being overshadowed.
But all this superstardom didn’t come overnight. A 13-year veteran of international cricket who captained the West Indies for four years, Gayle is also an accomplished player in the traditional Test format, one of only four men to score two triple hundreds. But since he’s developed into a more consistent batsman in big games, T20 has allowed him to become the biggest name in the shortened game. Gayle joined RCB in 2011, and also plays for the Bangladesh Premier League champion Dhaka Gladiators and the Sydney Thunder in Australia’s Big Bash League. Last year, he helped the West Indies to the World T20 title over the Sri Lankan hosts. No. 333 for RCB—yes, his hulking back accommodates all three digits—is so well-known for his batting prowess that there’s a term for it: “Gayle Force.” That’s why, as surreal as it was to watch him hit 175 in April—his score bettered the record for most runs in a T20 innings by 17—cricket fans and pundits say they half expected it. “He’s the first batsman who’s been a great at this form of the game, so it’s no surprise,” says Peter Miller, a Wales-based cricket writer for The Armchair Selector. “But it gets to the point where you start laughing at it, because it really is ridiculous.” Jennings, a former cricketer and one of the best wicket-keepers in South African history, uses the word “privileged” to describe having a front-row seat to Gayle’s performance. “It’s very scary to know that a human being could perform at that level,” he says. Jennings’s only question is why it didn’t stop traffic, especially after Gayle launched one into the street. “People outside the stadium were risking their lives.”
Gayle is the world’s best T20 batsman thanks to a relatively simple but unorthodox technique. He has a wide stance compared to most, and he doesn’t move his feet a great deal. His hand-eye coordination, quick bat speed and sheer strength help him pummel the ball to every corner of the pitch and beyond. Gayle makes it look easy but he stresses his skill is the result of hard work, and even tells kids who look up to him not to emulate his style. “It’s crucial to get the basics right, and then you can build on that base,” he said earlier this year. Jennings points to Gayle’s focus when asked what makes him the best he’s ever seen. “He’s very nervous and very quiet in the beginning, and then one ball gets hit well and you start to see that brutality, and he’s in the zone,” the coach says. “He takes over.”
That’s when Gayle’s genuine love for the game emerges. Playing with the joy of a giddy child is part of what’s endeared him to fans, says Miller. “The impression I get when I watch him play is he doesn’t really care, and I love him all the more for it.” Gayle, who smiles and even laughs between swings, has managed to attract even those who prefer traditional Test cricket to T20; Miller notes the only time that bars are free of lineups for a pint during a match is when the big guy is up to bat, and adds that fewer eyes will be on IPL matches in Britain now that RCB has been eliminated from the playoffs. “That’s the excitement he brings,” says Miller, himself a fan of the IPL, even if he believes it’s “more of a circus than it is a sporting event.” To his point, there are scantily clad cheerleaders and a team (the Kolkata Knight Riders) named after David Hasselhoff’s famous TV series. But if the IPL resembles a circus even a little, how fitting, then, that its star calls himself “Chris Lion.” “There’s nothing I enjoy more,” Gayle wrote in the Hindustan Times, where he has a regular column, “than entertaining you.”
That, too, is his focus off the pitch. Gayle dances in an online IPL ad while double-fisting cans of Pepsi, the league’s title sponsor. He’s in a commercial with Bollywood star Priyanka Chopra and says he’d consider a Bollywood flick if the opportunity arose. And, perhaps most incredibly considering his celebrity status, Gayle has steered clear of the tabloids. Gayle’s Twitter feed is both genuine and hilarious: “Drunk! But don’t judge me!! Lost my phone! Anyone found please return to the nearest police station in Bangalore! Fun goes on without phone!” When a fan says Gayle’s tweets “crack” him up, the Jamaican’s response is: “No to crack!!!!”
That historic Tuesday in April, after outscoring the entire Warriors side by 42, Gayle is all smiles. In the RCB locker room, cameras flash in his face as he walks in, giving the thumbs-up and high-fiving teammates. He drops into a red leather couch and says he’s hungry; all he had for breakfast was an omelette and a couple of pancakes. The rest of the RCB side seem more impressed than Gayle with the innings he just put together. “I didn’t know whether to feel elated or be scared by the way he was hitting,” says teammate Murali Kartik. “I feel bad for the [Warriors’] bowlers, seriously.” Ravi Rampaul added, with a smile: “Chris is a freak.” Three days later, in his column, Gayle ponders whether he could have reached 200. “I honestly think it was possible.” A double century—that kind of Gayle Force would need to be upgraded to a hurricane.
This story originally appeared in Sportsnet magazine. Subscribe here.
