In an easy chase on Monday, Pakistan defeated West Indies in their warm-up game of the ICC T20 World Cup 2021. Pakistan won the game by 7 wickets chasing down the 130-run-total with 27 balls to spare. It was a slow and disappointing performance from the West Indies with the bat. The otherwise destructive opener Chris Gayle took up 30 balls to reach his 20 runs. The inning was also much talked about on Twitter, thanks to a clip that surfaced on Twitter where Pakistan bowler Shadab Khan and wicket-keeper Mohammad Rizwan can be seen discussing Gayle’s nervousness.
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https://t.co/NYO7phBdsu pic.twitter.com/g37FhQxHtp— Hassam (@Nasha_e_cricket) October 18, 2021
In the clip, that has now been deleted from Twitter due to copyright issues, Shadab can be heard saying to Rizwan that Gayle is under some pressure, to which Rizwan responds in the affirmative. After having won the toss and electing to bat, the West Indies opener Andre Fletcher departed in the third over after scoring just 2 runs off 6 balls. After this, Gayle came in to bat at 3 but struggled to get going in his whole innings mustering to score just 2 boundaries from the 30 balls he played. His strike rate was a low 66.67 in the game.
The legend batter has been out of touch for some time now and age seems to be catching with the fun-loving Universe Boss. In the recently concluded IPL too, Gayle could not hit the big sixes he is known for and was dropped from the team Punjab Kings after a few games. He left the tournament mid-season due to bubble fatigue.
With Chris Gayle not opening the inning in the IPL or the warm-up game, critics have been skeptical about his place in the 11. West Indies legend Curtley Ambrose too recently expresses his doubts causing an angry response from Gayle.
West Indies begin their World Cup campaign against England on Saturday. The clash between the two favourites will begin at 7:30 pm on October 23. While Pakistan faces India on October 24. The classic rivalry resumes at 7:30 pm on Sunday at the Dubai International Stadium.
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