Chris Gayle’s numbers might not be the most impressive for West Indies since the last T20 World Cup, but judge those at your own peril, writes Rohit Sankar.

“I want to play for West Indies. That’s where my heart is.”

When making this comment right before the Sri Lanka series in March, Chris Gayle’s T20I appearances in the last two years was a grand total of zero. He had been active in franchise cricket, though, scripting a remarkable turnaround in a new role at No.3 in the Indian Premier League in 2020 when several had written off the 41-year-old, but had never turned out for the Windies in T20Is.

In spite of playing in leagues around the globe and skipping West Indies matches after tiffs with the cricket board, Gayle’s commitment to West Indies cricket was never in question. As though to emphasize that point, even in the twilight years of his career, Gayle decided to return from Pakistan in between his Pakistan Super League stint with Quetta Gladiators to play for West Indies in the series against Sri Lanka.

“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 unity within the group, and then hopefully we can win this T20 trophy. At 41, that’s what actually gets me through on a daily basis: it’s more mental than physical to me,” Gayle said then.

While still joking about playing on until 45 in 2020, few actually expected another return for Gayle in the West Indies T20I side. When the T20 World Cup begins in October, Gayle would be a month past 42. His participation in the tournament was in doubt until the latest comeback this year under Kieron Pollard’s captaincy.

Few games in, Gayle hasn’t managed to turn around his ordinary numbers for West Indies in T20Is. His last fifty-plus score, a breathtaking 100* in the first game of the 2016 T20 World Cup against England seems ages ago.

In 17 matches since the end of that tournament, Gayle averages 14, and he hasn’t even been scoring quickly – a strike-rate of 102.43 in these matches. That’s partly down to his batting template too, where he starts slow and then gains momentum. With runs drying up, the steep strike-rate spike, characteristic of Gayle’s knocks, has gone missing. But West Indies shouldn’t be too worried, rather they should be happy Gayle’s back.

Several senior players returned to the fold ahead of the 15 T20Is West Indies were set to play at home in the build-up to the T20 World Cup beginning with the South Africa series. Gayle’s return earlier in the year is arguably the most prominent one.

His T20 credentials are outstanding and have rarely ever been in question. In 2020, he was sat out of the first few matches Punjab Kings (then Kings XI Punjab) played in UAE, perhaps the first sign that T20 teams were willing to look past Gayle and into the future.

That ship, though, turned around pretty quickly. Gayle returned in pompous fashion, batting behind the Karnataka boys, KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal at No.3. In a run-chase of 172 against Royal Challengers Bangalore, Gayle made a typical 45-ball 53 with five sixes even to help Punjab through.

A 51 against Kolkata Knight Riders and a 99 against Rajasthan Royals followed as Gayle ended the season with 288 runs at 41.14, striking at 137.14.

Since his latest comeback, he has been slotted in at No.3 in the West Indies setup too but hasn’t quite clicked. Only once in the nine matches, he has played in 2021 for West Indies has he crossed 30. The runs have been coming at franchise level, though, with as many as three forties in eight games in IPL 2021.

What Gayle brings at No.3 in the Windies set up behind Evin Lewis and Lendl Simmons could be crucial to their T20 World Cup chances. Nicholas Pooran, Shimron Hetmyer, Kieron Pollard, and Andre Russell are the others in that middle-order. Each of them, for varying reasons, will benefit from a stable, experienced presence who isn’t really an anchor batsman and can tee off with them if needed.

The fact that he is there to do the hard grind and go through the pretty long preparation for the T20 World Cup speaks volumes about Gayle wanting to be there for the West Indies. His capabilities aren’t reflected by the underwhelming record in a handful of games spread across the last five years in international cricket. His entire career speaks for him instead.

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