Chris Gayle, as we know him is one of the most feared batsmen in the world cricket. He earned himself a name and fame with some scintillating performances for his national team, West Indies. The power-hitting skills he posses provided him with a chance to play T20 leagues around the world.
He has earned great money with his skills and has achieved a name for himself. But Gayle is not only known for his on-field performance but a lot of off the field incidents have put him in limelight too.
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The power hitter posses a casual attitude and he does not think much about the consequences of splurging out the thoughts in his mind. For this very reason, a lot of controversies revolved around him in the past and viewers can expect many more to come as the batsman is not going anywhere at least for a few years now.
Chris Gayle has earned himself a status of a legend in the shorter format of the game as he scored his 21st century in T20 cricket during the on-going IPL season 11. The very stature of this feat could be seen from the fact that the batsman at the number 2 in hitting most centuries in T20 cricket, has only 7 to his names.
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The fact that he is the most decorated cricketer in world T20 cricket with the most number of runs, centuries, the man of the match awards etc. makes him a legend of the game. But with the fame, the Jamaican was not able to keep himself in the goods books and always finds himself in some problem due to his behavior.
In past he has been in problem due to flirting with a reporter on live television, Ian Chappell requesting ICC to ban him, interview with Charlotte Edwards and the recent one where Australian masseuse dragged him into a sexist scandal. The big guy obviously loves the spotlight and does not shy away from any of the media and lays out what stays in his mind.
Sex scandal with the massuse
In 2016, Australian publisher reported news items from an interview with former Aussie massage therapist Leanne Russell. In the reports, it was stated that Russell sexually harassed her with malign comments during the 2015 World Cup.
The detailed account of the incident was published by Fairfax Media in which Russell narrated her story where she felt humiliated by the nature of the joke of Gayle and cried for hours.
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In the next year (November 2017), Gayle filed a defamation lawsuit against Fairfax Media, which he eventually won as the jury was convinced with Gayle’s story which found backing in Dwayne Smith who was present in the team dressing room when the incident happened.
Russell told the court that she has been associated with Gayle and the West Indian team for the past 10 years, but this incident left her shattered as he made her way into the male-dominated sport.
Auction on twitter
Soon after the court gave their verdict in Gayle’s favor, he took to Twitter to auction his side of the story along with full access to courtroom drama for the price of USD 300,000.
He published that he is ready to give a full 60-minute interview regarding this event and is willing to narrate the incidents as they occurred in Australia. He made a point that some people tried to use him as a scapegoat and he is ready to show them to the world but only if the price is right.
He informed that he has a lot to disclose and is willing to do the same in the interview. Through his tweets, he also reiterated the fact that he is not scared of the media and is willing to take the fight to his grave.
Not the first time
This is not the first time that Gayle took to media to vent out his thoughts. He has done that before and several times.
Right before this scandal came into limelight, he was fined ASD 10,000 for his lewd comments during a BBL game, live. He said he wanted to do an interview with Mel McLaughlin as well just to see her eyes and went on to say, “So hopefully we can win this game and we can have a drink after. Don’t blush, baby.”
His ex-teammate Chris Rogers from Sydney Thunder said he was a bad influence on youngsters there, to which Gayle responded through his autobiography ‘Six Machine’: “Chris Rogers, how can you claim that when it was you and me at the bar most nights? I’m not a snitch, but I’ve heard from your own mouth what you’ve done. Next time you want to open your mouth, maybe chew on a carrot instead.”
Once Ian Chappell requested ICC to ban him and Gayle responded with “Ian Chappell, how can you ban the Universe, Boss? You’d have to ban cricket itself. Ian Chappell, a man who was once convicted of unlawful assault in the West Indies for punching a cricket official.” When Andrew Flintoff condemned Gayle’s actions too by saying that Gayle “made himself look a bit of a chop there.” He responded with “This coming from a man who admitted he took Viagra during a Test match.”
These are just a few of the many incidents with which Gayle has been associated. He clearly loves the limelight and is not afraid to say out his mind. It can be good and bad both, but it seems to have come good for Gayle as his fan following over the years have increased only. People enjoy the batsman on and off the field and like he said after the BBL issue, maybe he is to be taken lightly and not think too much about what he says. Just enjoy the humor.