West Indies’ veteran Chris Gayle is all set to make his international comeback at the age of 41 as he has been named in the national squad for the home T20I series against Sri Lanka.
This will be the first time the swashbuckling batsman will don the Maroon jersey since the 2019 World Cup.
Gayle was playing in the Pakistan Super League (PSL) 2021 when he got a call from the selectors.
Addressing the reporters ahead of the start of Sri Lanka T20Is, Gayle said: “When I got the call and they asked if I’m willing and interested, I said: ‘Yes, I want to play for West Indies. That’s where my heart is. I’m never going to turn down anything pertaining to West Indies cricket at this particular time. So I came back from Pakistan to be a part of the set-up leading into the World Cup so we can have a unity within the group, and then hopefully we can win this T20 trophy.”
Gayle went on to reveal that an international return wasn’t a part of his plans. “I wasn’t actually thinking down this road. I was like, I’m going to play franchise cricket, entertaining people as much as possible,” the southpaw said.
The 2021 T20 World Cup will take place in India in October-November. West Indies are the defending champions; they have won the tournament in 2012 and 2016.
“I want to accomplish, starting off by winning the series, but the bigger picture is actually to get three T20 titles under my belt. That’s actually the goal I’m setting in my head by winning the T20 World Cup. We have quite a few series coming up and we have a lot of cricket leading up to that. We’ll try and take as much as possible out of these series coming up,” Gayle added.
