Chris Gayle has sparked speculation that he may have played his final game for the West Indies, after the superstar batsman took a moment to celebrate his innings during a T20 World Cup match tonight.
During the West Indies’ clash with Australia Gayle was dismissed for 15 runs from nine deliveries, after chopping a Pat Cummins’ delivery onto his stump.
As the 42-year-old walked from the pitch, he raised his bat and was greeted with a standing ovation before taking a moment to embrace with his teammates.
While no retirement has been announced or confirmed, the reaction from fans and commentators suggested he was finished up.
“What an incredible player he’s been for the West Indies,” said former Australian cricketer Shane Watson in commentary.
“He’s done so many incredible things.”
Mark Nicholas added: “We figured it may be the last time… there was some thrilling strokes and enormous power [played today].
“A grand farewell.”
Social media was quick to react to Gayle’s walk-off, with many pundits paying tribute to the superstar batsman on Twitter
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https://twitter.com/SampathStats/status/1456933446849236994?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweethttps://twitter.com/VVSLaxman281/status/1456929086064971779https://twitter.com/SajSadiqCricket/status/1456929094902423557https://twitter.com/beastieboy07/status/1456928397163069440https://twitter.com/AnsHafeez/status/1456930225846198278
If today was Gayle’s final match, he finishes as the most capped player for the West Indies in international cricket. He’s also the leading run-scorer in both ODI and T20I for West Indies.
Meanwhile, teammate and all-rounder Dwayne Bravo confirmed earlier that today would be his final international cricket match.