ICC World Cup 2019 | This is the last one definitely, Chris Gayle bids farewell
Getty
Chris Gayle has called it quits on his World Cup career for West Indies after their final match against Afghanistan on Thursday. The âUniverse Bossâ couldnât sign off in style with the bat, however, he made up for it in the field with a good low catch, and the big wicket of Ikram Ali Khil.
Walking out to bat for his World Cup swansong, Gayle needed a mere 17 runs more to topple the legendary Brian Lara, and become West Indiesâ leading run-scorer in ODI cricket. However, Gayle only managed seven runs off 18 balls to end up with 10,338 runs in his career, ten runs shy of Laraâs 10,348.Â
Fans were left to wonder whether they would ever get to see the great man in ODIs again with a chance to claim that top spot. And Gayle revealed after the match that he would be continuing the format for some more time.Â
âI'll be around, I may be around for a few more games, will be there for the youngsters. Privileged to have been part of another World Cup. I don't intend to put my body on the risk, I've been struggling. This is the last one, definitely,â Gayle said after the match, reported Star Sports.Â
Although the Windies signed off on a high, it has overall been a disappointing World Cup campaign for them. Having done well in the T20 and Test format, much was expected from their new brand of players prior to the tournament. However, they only managed to win two games in the whole round robin stage. Gayle, who has represented his country at five World Cups now, expressed his disappointment of not making the semis.
"Been a privilege and honour to represent West Indies in five WCs, disappointed to end without making it to the final four,â Gayle said.
Of their six losses, they have only suffered big defeats at the hands of England and India. Every other time, they came close and failed to finish the job. However, Gayle is confident in the young, exciting, bunch of cricketers the board has found, to carry forward the light to the next World Cup.
âThe future looks bright, with Hetmyer, Hope, Pooran - those guys will carry the flag and make sure West Indies cricket is back to where it belongs. They have a young captain in Jason Holder as well, they have to rally around. Look forward to the next World Cup as well. We have Andre Russell who is around. All these guys can be devastating as batters. They need to get a bit more mature quickly, we know what they're all capable of," Gayle said.Â
When asked about what the future holds for the Universe Boss, he said: âTo play the T20Is and ODIs against India, the CPL and the Canadian T20. That's that. We'll see after that what happens.â
