Chris Rogers terms Gayle as a 'bad influence' for youngsters

Former Australian cricketer, Chris Rogers has strongly criticised Melbourne Renegades batsman Chris Gayle for his highly inappropriate comments towards a TV host and termed him a ‘bad influence’ for other youngsters in the team.

"I was very wary of the role he was setting for the younger guys, and I spoke to them quite a bit about it - 'do you think this is good behaviour, would you do this kind of thing?' And all of them, all the young guys to give them credit were like 'No, we don't think this is right'. This is a pattern of behaviour. If you know the guy, you see it over and over,” Rogers said.

In Monday’s match against the Hobart Hurricanes, Renegades’ batsman Chris Gayle came under fire after his comments with TV host Mel McLaughlin during an interview. When the host asked him if there was any injury scare or any problem because of which he threw away his wicket, Gayle steered the conversation away from cricket and said: “Your eyes are beautiful, hopefully, we can win this game and then we can have a drink after as well... Don’t blush baby.”

Chris Rogers, who was Gayle’s teammate during the 2012-‘13 Big Bash League, admitted that the West Indian attitude was always causing trouble in the team. "From my time at the Thunder, I was very disappointed in his attitude and his behaviour and I've never been a fan since. From what I saw, if I had been in the Thunder the next year, it would have been my advice that he shouldn't have been anywhere near the set-up,” he strongly commented.

While Rogers agreed that Gayle was a talented individual, he criticised his behaviour saying that it did not reflect well on the youngsters in the team. "This guy has an amazing grab and he brings crowds but equally you can't tolerate that behaviour. I would go out with him socially or in a group as you do in a team and I'd probably distanced myself from him. The other thing is I was very wary of the role he was setting for the younger guys," he remarked.

Despite the fact that Gayle apologised to the reporter, Rogers said that it wasn't a very satisfactory response and called on the West Indian to start making better decisions. "His apology, he's basically saying 'if she feels bad about it, well then I'm sorry about that,' but he's not actually saying that he's sorry that he said it. I'd be the first one to admit that there's been times that I probably let myself down with my behaviour, but you grow up. You start making better decisions, and he needs to start making better decisions," he felt.