My friend, who considers himself a ‘purist’, is only one amongst a million or more who have the exact same perception about cricketers such as Gayle or Pollard who, according to them, have ‘sold their soul to make a living out of this pretentious format called T20’. In fact, let me throw in one more name into the mix - DJ Bravo.

To put the truth out there, no one, and when I say it, I mean absolutely no other cricketer in this planet, has done as much for the growth of the format as the Windies trio of Chris Gayle, Kieron Pollard and Dwayne Bravo. Yet the sad and the bitter truth is that these players are not given the respect they deserve, are often taken for granted and called names as they apparently ‘chose the easier path to earn money’. 

Between them, Gayle, Pollard and Bravo have played an astonishing 1,360 T20 games and while it is easy to pass them off as ‘T20 merchants’, what simply cannot be ignored is that they’ve not only tirelessly appeared in games, but have also backed up the quantity with quality. Gayle, for instance, has scored 13,296 runs in 404 T20 matches. To put it into perspective, in the history of ODI cricket, only four men have bettered that tally. The same applies to Bravo’s tally of 497 T20 wickets, which has been bettered by only two men in the history of the game in the ODIs, while Pollard is essentially games away from completing the double of 10,000 runs and 300 wickets. These are ridiculous numbers which warrant a ‘GOAT’ tag next to it due to its sheer absurdity - all the while ignoring the fitness and commitment that’s needed to remain durable for over a decade. 

Statistical prowess aside, their impact on the game has stretched beyond their contribution on the field. Not only have they featured as the flag-bearers of T20 cricket for over a decade, but they’ve also served as the ambassadors for the globalization of the sport. Between them, Gayle, Pollard and Bravo have featured in leagues across a staggering eleven countries, including Canada and Zimbabwe, and have played their hand in helping the game grow in these nations by serving as the single biggest USP / crowd-pullers of the league. In fact, Gayle was all set to feature in the Nepal T20 League this year before the pandemic hit. A Warner, Kohli, de Villiers and Malinga might be setting the stage on fire today, but it is important to remember that it was the likes of Gayle, Pollard and Bravo, who worked day in and day out and put their body through hell and beyond, who set the base for the boom of the T20 format. 

That they could and should have ended up playing more international cricket in the past 10 years than they eventually did is an undeniable fact. But despite their differences with the board and despite not donning the Windies colours as much as they should have, the belief they injected amongst youngsters and the culture they created within the country played a significant role in the Windies becoming almost-undisputed kings of the T20 format in the 2010s, a decade where they lifted the World T20 title twice. It is because of players like Gayle, Pollard and Bravo that the Hetmyers and the Poorans and the Kings are, today, forces to be reckoned with in T20 cricket, and it goes unsaid that they will continue to inspire the next generation of cricketers, not only in the Windies but across the world, in the years to come.

It is understandable that we love to draw an imaginary, moral line and hold Test cricket high whilst berating the rest, but T20 cricket, too, is beautiful in its own way. And while there is no compulsion to forcibly ‘like’ the format, the efforts of the cricketers who have put their heart and soul into it, however, needs to be acknowledged. The truth remains that Gayle, Pollard and Bravo, irrespective of how much they are ostracized, are the ‘First of the Immortals’, the Men responsible for making T20 cricket the phenomenon it is today. It’s high time that we ‘put some respeck on their name’.