Chris Gayle dismisses any possibilitiy of retiring from Test cricket

Chris Gayle the flamboyant left-hander from West Indies has shrugged rumours of him retiring from Test cricket. The party freak reminded his fans and followers that he is still a Test cricketer and that he has a lot of Test cricket left in him. The 36-year-old posted a picture of him and his teammates from his Instagram account and wrote, “O Sammy, I ain’t no former Test player. Me nuh retire. Lol.”

It has been a shame for the Windies board and fans in the Caribbean that the best players are not available to play in the Test series against India. This has been the condition of West Indies cricket for the past few years with players like Chris Gayle, Sunil Narine, Andre Russell, and Kieron Pollard have been missing from the Test squad for a long time. The dispute between club and country and imbalance in pay structure has been the main reasons why the big players have backed out from playing Test matches for the country.

Many ex-cricketers and experts have lashed out at the WICB for scheduling the India-West Indies series and the Caribbean Premier League simultaneously.

Most of the reputed Caribbean stars are playing in the CPL while the Indians are making light work of the second string West Indies squad in the ongoing Test series. With a 1-0 lead, they are set to win the 2nd Test in Jamaica too and a whitewash could be on the cards. Former India captain Sourav Ganguly felt that the West Indies Board should be held responsible for their pathetic performance in the ongoing Test series and giving priority to clubs more than the country.

“I think it is the ICC’s job to make sure this is happening (that best players represent the country at Test level) but I do not think ICC has control over these T20 leagues. We hold our IPL and we make sure the Indian Team is not playing anywhere else in the world so that is why the players are available for the IPL and players are then available to play for India,” Ganguly said.

Chris Gayle had been a prolific run-scorer for West Indies in the longer format with 15 centuries to his name. He is also one among only four players to score two triple centuries. The West Indies fans will be hoping that the rift between the board and the players is dissolved as soon as possible and the big names get to play in tests again.