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| World Twenty20: Restrained Chris Gayle represents big gamble for West Indies | | | Agencies
DHAKA, Mar 26: The good news for rival bowlers is Chris Gayle has abandoned his onslaught-from-the outset approach. The bad news is, the West Indies opener has decided to delay his big hitting so he can explode in the later stages.
Many observers believe West Indies are taking a huge gamble by taming a wild force with a strategy that could make or break their World Twenty20 title defence in Bangladesh.
The swashbuckling opener recently joked he made Sohag Gazi a household name by hitting the Bangladeshi off-spinner for a six off the first ball of a Test match in Dhaka.
More than a year later, Gayle's recent batting philosophy has been to shun such extravagance and preserve his aggression for a delayed assault. Worryingly for his team, the ploy has not really worked so far in the sport's showcase Twenty20 tournament.
Gayle managed just about run-a-ball scores of 34 and 48 in the defeat against India and the victory against Bangladesh, respectively.Those runs came at a strike rate that fails to justify the flamboyant southpaw's stature as arguably the most destructive batsman in Twenty20 cricket. Also, it has shifted the onus on his opening partner Dwayne Smith to provide the flying start Gayle had performed until his batting approached changed. The policy led to a rare sight as Smith outscored Gayle in Tuesday's 73-run victory against Bangladesh, falling after a quickfire 72 while his opening partner was still pottering around for his first 19 runs off 29 balls. |
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