Chris Gayle is considered as one of the best T20 batters ever produced in world cricket. However, ahead of the inaugural edition of the 6IXTY tournament, the self-proclaimed ‘Universe Boss’ has called himself the ‘greatest off-spinner in the world’.
"You know what? My bowling is natural. Definitely, I have to bowl. I'm the greatest off-spinner of all time. Murali (Muttiah Muralitharan) won't contest that for sure. I have the best economy, not even Sunil Narine can come close to that," The Caribbean t20 legend told ESPNCricinfo.
Gayle has a total of 83 wickets in the T20 format at an average of 31.54 and an economy rate of 7.62 runs per over.
The southpaw has not played a T20I since T20 World Cup 2021. On the other hand, he has not played franchise cricket since February 2022.
In the 60 ball tournament where batters will consider even a single dot ball as criminal and there as a strange rule of ‘mystery fan ball’ where the batter can’t get out, Gayle seems to be backing himself as an all-rounder.
"Bowlers nowadays are creative. They've got a lot of variations and they make it challenging for the batters. Of course, the batting part is more dominant in shorter forms but the bowlers have a lot of skills to make it uncomfortable for the batter. It's gonna be interesting from the batters' point of view. Saint Kitts is a small ground, I'm expecting good pitches. It's gonna be exciting, there's gonna be a lot of chaos. It'll be up to us how we make it even more interesting for the fans out there," the soon to be 43-year-old said.
While it is not a surety that Gayle will be seen rolling in his arm in 6IXTY tournament, he will open the innings for St Kitts and Nevis Patriots against Jamaica Tallawahs on August 24.
Currently, he is the highest run-scorer in the T20 format. From 463 matches, he has scored 14,562 runs at an average of 36.22 including 22 centuries and 88 half-centuries. He also holds the record for the highest score in the format.
