Chris Gayle, the West Indies batting icon, turns 45 on Saturday (September 21). The Jamaican cricketer likes to call himself the 'Universe Boss' and fittingly so the way he has bossed around the bowlers in his international career and how he continues to do so in the T20 leagues around the world. Gayle is known for his party-loving nature and likes to live his life king size.
Notably, Gayle was diagnosed with a hole in his heart and had to undergo a surgery which he termed a life-altering experience. After that, the southpaw likes to enjoy his life to the fullest. Gayle is known for his six hitting ability but there are a few relatively less talked about stats of the birthday boy who is plying his trade in the ongoing Legends League Cricket (LLC).
Gayle has played 301 ODIs, the most by a West Indies batter. The second name on this list is that of the legendary Brian Lara who has played 299 ODIs. These caps also include the matches in which he has represented ICC.
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While the first thing that comes to most people's minds when they think about Gayle is his batting and his six-hitting ability, the left-handed batter also has over 250 international wickets to his name. The powerful striker of the ball bowled right-arm offbreaks has 167 wickets in ODIs, 73 scalps in Tests and 20 wickets in T20Is.
Gayle, for all his T20 brilliance, is one of the four batters in world cricket to smash two triple hundreds in Test cricket which suggests that his success is not at all restricted to muscling the bowlers all around the park but also using his mind to conquer them over long periods of them. Don Bradman, Virender Sehwag and Brian Lara are the other three players to get to two triple hundreds in Test cricket.
Gayle has 15 Test centuries to his name, another testimony to his reputation as an all-format batter. He has over 7000 Test runs at an average of over 40 in Test matches.
Even though one might not count Gayle among the fittest athletes, he has 240 international catches to his name, making him the West Indian with the second-most international catches, only behind Brian Lara. He has taken some stunning grabs over the years, especially inside the ring. Gayle was often the captain's go-to man in the slips and in other catching positions.
