500 runs a possibility One-Day International: Chris Gayle

Gulf News

Former West Indian opener Chris Gayle, known for his big-hitting skills, feels that a score of 500 in a One-Day International is a possibility.  Read the full story here: https://gulfnews.com/sport/cricket/500-runs-in-an-innings-is-a-possibility-in-one-day-international-says-former-windies-cricketer-chris-gayle-1.100128374  See more videos at https://gulfnews.com/videos Read more Gulf News stories here: https://bit.ly/2HLJ2km  Subscribe to Gulf News on YouTube and watch more of our videos: https://www.youtube.com/user/GulfNewsTV  #UAEnews #cricket #ChrisGayle

Transcript

00:00You seem to be coming too often to Dubai, you seem to be liking Dubai, what's the magic

00:14that you find in Dubai?

00:15What a question to ask about Dubai, I mean I love Dubai, most people don't know I've

00:21been coming here for more than 20 years now.

00:24After making my debut in 1999 in Canada, the next year was actually in Sharjah at the

00:30time where I played India and Sri Lanka, so since 1999 I've been coming here, so more

00:35than over two decades now, so Dubai I've seen it growing over the years, so I'm actually

00:41growing with Dubai as well, this is a different occasion though, most times Dubai is for a

00:48little bit of holiday, but we play a lot of cricket here in Dubai.

00:52As we talk about cricket, I have to ask you, we all missed West Indies in the World Cup

00:57this year, because we all grew up watching West Indies, but how did you feel and what

01:04was the reason we didn't see West Indies in the World Cup?

01:08I can't give the reason, but just like any other West Indian fans, I was disappointed

01:14not seeing West Indies in the World Cup for the first time, but it's good to see them

01:19actually in a rebound, they just won a series against England, and the good thing about

01:24it as well, they have something to play for, which is the next World Cup, the T20 World

01:28Cup is in the Caribbean, and the United States, so they have a lot to play for, for the Caribbean

01:34people by missing out on the World Cup in India, so hopefully they go well, they started

01:39the series well against England, and hopefully they can build up some momentum leading up

01:44to the World Cup next year, and give us something to cheer about.

01:47One of the reasons, main reasons that's been talked about as West Indies players is a lot

01:53of franchisee cricket they are giving importance on, of course that's a lifeline of the West

01:56Indies cricket is what Pawel also told me recently, so is it a problem, or you think

02:01it's a good thing, or how do you handle, or how do you view the, too much of T20 cricket especially?

02:08Nah, there's no problem, you can't be too hard on any particular player, because the

02:14entire fraternity is a business now, the entire cricketing world, it's not like what it used

02:19to be 15, 10 years ago, where it was more so international cricket, the venture, the

02:26game actually changed, and started to revolve around T20 cricket as well, so it's a business,

02:32and you look at the loyalties, loyalty don't really happen when it comes down to a board,

02:38pretty much a franchise and a player, so the player has all the rights to make their own

02:42decision, and what's best for them, so I will back any player, what decision they make,

02:49what venture they're looking at, which avenue they're looking to take as well, I will back

02:53them 100% because it's a business, and it's not only in cricket, it's all sports right about now.

02:59Correct, and we see a lot of your records coming off, Roy broke your sixes record,

03:06a lot of records going off, how do you feel about it, because generally people will be happy to

03:11have their records. Yeah, just like before I get the work record, someone had it before,

03:16so they always say records were made to be broken, so it's good to see these things happening in

03:21cricket, and it actually makes it even better within the sport as well, so a next generation

03:26can come and look to break Roy Sharma's record there as well, but it's all about consistency,

03:32from a player's point of view, and to get records, it's not really an individual sport,

03:38but from a personal interest, it's good to have records under your belt as well.

03:44We are seeing 400s now coming in the 50 overs, of course 20 years ago 250 was a winning total,

03:50even 400 is not a winning total these days in a 50-over game,

03:53are we going to look at 500 in the near future? It's possible, because like I say it's a business,

03:59sometimes they make the boundaries a bit smaller as well, for more excitement,

04:03more entertainment as well, so you see a lot more sixes being hit as well, and wickets a bit

04:08better to batter, so it's a bit harsher on the bowlers as well, so it's just more one-sided

04:14sometimes. You made one of the bowlers' life miserable as well. Yeah, so it's a bit of fast

04:21pace, and every youngster is developing their own skills as well, and be so productive in the game

04:28as well, it's actually good to see, I mean everybody actually have a chance and resolve

04:32around how they go about the cricket as well, so it's nice. Have you ever thought about,

04:37from a bowler's perspective, of course you bowl or spin as well, but the way you attack,

04:42if somebody is going to attack at you, from a bowler's perspective, how would you approach the

04:46game in today's scheme of things, modern day cricket as a bowler? Bowlers are very clever,

04:53bowlers, spinners, you have a lot of variations as well, just like fast bowlers do the same thing

04:57as well, so it's all about the batter, the skills you develop facing a particular ball with so many

05:04skills as well, so the match-up is very good, a good bowler coming up against a good batter,

05:08both are very skilful, so that made the game a bit more interesting as well, and very more

05:14challenging from a viewer's point of view as well, which we want to see, we want to see the

05:19best against the best, but like I said, it just varies around the world, but most of the time,

05:24more so often, the batters come out on top. You have tormented the bowlers across the world,

05:31but tell me an innings where a bowler made you dance or made your life difficult, if you may

05:37think about one or two innings where you were at the receiving end and you were not able to

05:42meet it, if you have it at the top of your head. It's not like, I wouldn't look at it like that,

05:46you know, but as a batter, you know, we're always going to go through a rough patch,

05:51we're always going to go through, nothing's going to be smooth, we're going to have difficult times,

05:54I've seen the best in the world go through those phases as well in cricket, so we have had many of

05:59those phases in my international career as well, and you know, it still made me as a person,

06:04you know, became a stronger person, and eventually I'll still last as long as possible, you know,

06:08to be able to play international cricket for over, you know, 20 years, which is fantastic,

06:13but like I said, nothing's going to be a smooth road for me. The one where I can recall was actually

06:22in Sri Lanka, I think that was my second test series after making my debut against Zimbabwe,

06:27you know, scoring my first century as well, and then, you know, I went to Sri Lanka, first time

06:32in Sri Lanka as well, I was dismissed like five times against Jaminder Vass in a test series,

06:36I scored probably 40-something runs and I finished maybe a little bit, probably 50 runs in the entire

06:42three-match series, you know, but in one day, you know, I went on to score, you know, a lot of runs,

06:47but, you know, words of advice from even my likes of Brian Larratt, so listen, a lot of big players

06:53come to Sri Lanka, you know, and didn't score any runs as well, so it was a learning curve,

06:57it's all quickly you learn in those situations, and then you make the necessary adjustment.

07:01That was my next question, actually, how did you make this necessary adjustment?

07:05You've got to be mentally strong, you know, that's what the game, you know, is all about.

07:09And last two of my questions, we have a little of the weekend call write-up as well, so we would

07:14like to get the individuals a day in a day, what do you do in a day, if you can, if you are willing

07:19to talk about it? Pretty much nothing really, pretty relaxed, I love to sleep, I'm more and

07:24more sleeper, day sleeper, if I don't have nothing to do, I'll be sleeping, I'm watching a bit of TV,

07:29so yeah, that's pretty much me. And what is the best part of the day, if you have any particular

07:33day, particular time, particular thing you would like to do? No, no, no, routine, pretty much, you know,

07:38because I travel so much, I mean, I try and make sure I get some rest, you know, in between as well.

07:43Is it the same during your playing days, you sleep in the day as well? Yeah, it depends,

07:47depends the format, depends on the franchise, cricket, the time zone as well is always going to

07:52play a point. If I'm in India, pretty much I go to bed like 6 a.m, 7 a.m, so lovely.

07:58Thank you so much for your time, Chris. You're welcome.

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