Chris Gayle feared local Bangladesh spinners, claims Mashrafe Mortaza

05/25/2020

Former Bangladesh skipper Mashrafe Mortaza revealed that Chris Gayle, in a BPL game, asked him to keep batting against spinners as the West Indian did not quite want to come up against their bowling. Mortaza further revealed that England’s Steve Harmison was one of the toughest bowlers he faced.

Having amassed over 13,000 runs in the shortest format, Chris Gayle has well and truly established himself as the greatest player in the history of T20 cricket and is remarkably still going strong, at the age of 40. A reason for the West Indian’s success has been his openness to partake in T20 leagues around the world and having played for Barisal Burners, Chattogram Challengers and Chittagong Vikings amongst other franchises, the southpaw has also made quite the name for himself in the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL).

However, former Bangladesh skipper Mashrafe Mortaza revealed a funny secret about the 40-year-old and recalled an incident where he felt that Gayle was ‘scared’ to face Bangladesh spinners. Mortaza revealed that when the pair were batting together in a BPL game, Gayle asked him to keep the strike and keep batting against the local Bangladesh spinners, as the Universe Boss was not so confident going up against the slower bowlers.

“He (Gayle) was telling me to keep going, keep going. I was surprised at what he was saying. He is telling me to keep going, where I was supposed to say him go and hit, I’ve done what I could. He repeatedly was telling me to keep going,” said Mashrafe, suggesting Gayle fear Bangladesh spinners, as reported by cricfrenzy.com.

With four international fifties to his name, Mortaza is no muck with the bat and has time and again proved that he can pack a punch, often making use of the long handle to inflict some damage down the order. However, the 36-year-old recalled an instance when he had absolutely no clue whatsoever with the bat and revealed how England’s Steve Harmison made him look like a fool with the bat.

“But if you say about the biggest highlight I will then say I have faced Harmison (Steve Harmison) at Lord’s,” he said.

“My gods haven’t you seen the batting of Courtney Walsh, it was the same situation there.”