Former West Indies skipper and opening batter Chris Gayle is one of the greatest T20 batters of all time. His numbers in the shortest format of the game are extraordinary.
The 43-year-old batter has played a total of 463 matches to date, in which he has scored 14562 runs at an average of 36.22 and a strike rate of 144.75. He played in a total of 79 T20Is for the West Indies and has played 142 matches in the IPL.
Gayle was a member of the West Indies side that won the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in 2012 and 2016 but was not able to win any IPL titles during his career despite reaching the final twice with Royal Challengers Bangalore in 2011 and 2016.
During a recent interaction on Jio Cinema, former Indian cricketer Robin Uthappa asked the self-proclaimed Universe Boss which tournament was more difficult to win between the IPL and the T20 World Cup. He chose to go with the former.
He initially assumed that Uthappa was referring to the ODI World Cup, so he first chose the World Cup over the IPL, but later, when Uthappa clarified that he was referring to the T20 World Cup, Gayle changed his decision.
“You know what, I would say the World Cup. The reason being, I have never been to a World Cup final. I have been to an IPL final, so I was this close. So, World Cup,” he initially said.
Uthappa then reminded him by saying, “But you have won two T20 World Cups.”
After which Gayle said, “Is the T20 World Cup okay? Then I guess it’s the IPL. IPL is definitely harder to win,” he added.
Gayle finished as the leading run getter in the 2011 edition of the IPL. In that season, he joined RCB as a replacement player and played a total of 12 matches, in which he scored 608 runs. But despite his heroics, he failed to win the IPL title.