West Indies batsman Chris Gayle has lashed out at former teammate Ramnaresh Sarwan, calling him “a snake” during a three-part video interview where he explains his departure from Jamaica Tallawahs, the Caribbean Premier League T20 franchise.

Last week, it emerged that Gayle had been released by the Tallawahs to join St Lucia Zouks ahead of CPL 2020. On Tuesday, in the second of the three videos published on the “Chris Gayle – Universe” YouTube channel, Gayle alleged that the Tallawahs management combined to plot his exit, singling out Sarwan, the assistant coach, as the one with a “big part to play” in the entire fiasco.

“Sarwan, you are worse than the coronavirus right now,” Gayle said. “What transpired with the Tallahwahs, you had a big part to play. Sarwan, you were the one who gave a big speech on my birthday party about how far we have come. Sarwan, you are a snake. You know, you are not the most loved person in the Caribbean. You are so vindictive, you are still immature, you are back-stabbing.”

In the first video, Gayle stated how he’d wished to “finish my career in the Jamaica T-shirt,” but was told that the franchise, running into losses, was looking to sell. Eventually, he was not retained by the team, claiming that the management knew a month in advance, but did not reveal the same to Gayle. He also said that Sarwan, “who wasn’t involved with cricket for a long time”, was actually eyeing the head coach’s job.

“In everybody’s eyes, you acted as if you were this saint, this good person,” Gayle went on. “Sarwan, you’re evil, you’re wicked, you’re poison. You let a thing like this transpire.”

 

Gayle had returned to the Tallawahs’ as a marquee player in 2019 for his second stint with the side, having led them to title wins in 2013 and 2016, before moving to St Kitts and Nevis Patriots for a couple of years.

“When I left the Tallawahs [after the 2016 season], it was a high-spirited team,” Gayle said. “The amount of complaints I get when I wasn’t there, the amount of problems they had with Sarwan, [Andre] Russell was the captain at the time; the amount of problems Sarwan and the captain have, keeping meetings behind the captain’s back and these sort of things. That’s the kind of person Sarwan is.

“You are no good. You are despicable. You want the franchise, have it. There’s no Gayle. You run the show.”