Chris Gayle the best batsman in Twenty20 cricket

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Chris Gayle the best batsman in Twenty20 cricket

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Gayle has scored 2591 runs in last 17 months, at an average of 57.

25 May,2012 10:03 pm

No one doubts Chris Gayles ability to hit the cricket ball long and hard - he has done it repeatedly in both Tests and ODIs, in all sorts of climes and conditions.Yet even his staunchest supporter will probably be amazed by the kind of numbers he has racked up in 20-over cricket.The very nature of the format demands that batsmen take risks all the time, and in doing so attempt low-percentage shots and get out. An average of 30 is considered acceptable in this version, at a strike rate of around 125.Not for Gayle, though. The spat with the West Indies board has been terrible news for the international team, but it has given Gayle ample time to play 20-over cricket for various sides, in various conditions, all over the world.(The list reads as follows: Barisal Burners, Sydney Thunder, Matabeleland Tuskers, Royal Challengers Bangalore, Western Australia, Kolkata Knight Riders, Stanford Superstars, Jamaica and PCA Masters XI.)It has given him the opportunity to hone his skills, and work out his best strokes and scoring areas.The result has been awesome - Gayle is, quite simply, the best batsman in the world in 20-over cricket; no one even comes close.The IPL was only the latest example of what he is capable of achieving in this format - his tally of 733 was easily the highest in this edition of the tournament - and also the highest in any edition - while his 59 sixes are as many as the sum of the next three batsmen put together.His IPL performance took his tally of Twenty20 runs for 2012 past 1000, the second successive year he has achieved this. (In fact, his T20 averages in 2011 and 2012 are exactly the same - 57.57.)