Global T20 Canada 2018: 5 players to watch out for

Chris Gayle

Chris Gayle in the recently conducted Windies vs WorldXI T20I fixture

Any list which talks about "key players" in a T20 game, is incomplete without the inclusion of the burly Windies opener, who has been widely regarded as the epitome of T20 batting ever since the format's inception more than a decade ago. Twenty20 cricket has since picked Chris Gayle as its ambassador, owing to the fact that he owns almost every batting record in the format, including that of the most runs, most hundreds, fastest hundred, highest individual score, and most fours and sixes.

Chris Gayle recently took part in IPL 2018 after being bought for INR 2 Crore. This was after his former team, the Royal Challengers Bangalore decided that he was surplus to requirements, thereby deciding not to retain him. He went unsold for a surprisingly long period of time before Kings XI secured his signature. Gayle, in turn, showed signs of his never-diminishing-lethal-ability whenever he featured for the team, scoring 368 runs from 11 games at a fantastic average of 40.88 and strike rate of 150.71, including a hundred against Sunrisers Hyderabad.

With several Windies stars also playing in the GT20 Canada, Gayle may be well aware of how to handle the opposition he would be facing. He will ply his trade for the Donovan Miller-coached-Vancouver Knights alongside the likes of Andre Russell and Tim Southee. We shouldn't be surprised if we get to see a Gayle-special, marked with the trademark bat-swipes with the balls flying for towering sixes.