Chris Gayle Set To Make Debut In The US Open T20 Tournament.

In the recent news – and not at all a surprising one – Chris Gayle is set to feature in another T20 league. The ‘Universe Boss’ will make his debut in the US Open T20 tournament scheduled from December 15th. This will be the 12th edition of the tournament.

Gayle will play for the Atlanta Param Veers. All the matches will take place at the Central Broward Regional Park in Fort Lauderdale. Chris Gayle is coming off a successful IPL with the bat. He turned the fortunes of Kings XI Punjab with three half-centuries in seven innings.

Atlanta will be led by Rayad Emrit and has international stars like pacer Kesrick Williams and all-rounder Fabian Allen. Andre Russell and Corey Anderson will also feature in the tournament. Anderson has made a permanent retirement from New Zealand cricket and will move to the United States.

The tournament comprises of 8 teams divided into two groups of 4 each. Each team in a group will compete with another once, with the top two teams qualifying for the semi-finals. The final will be held on 20th December.

Is Chris Gayle the greatest batsman in T20 cricket?

After playing for a couple of dozen teams in the T20 format, Chris Gayle has amassed over 13,584 runs- which is 3000 runs more than the next best and his West Indian teammate, Kieron Pollard. The third batsman to cross the 10,000 run mark in the shortest format of the game is Pakistan’s, Shoaib Malik. Gayle also has struck 1001 maximums and 22 hundreds in his 15-year T20 career.

So is Gayle the greatest T20 batsman to walk on the face of the planet? The numbers do suggest the same. The only batsman to challenge Gayle is Kieron Pollard, who not only has a similar average to Gayle but also has batted in more pressure situations towards the end of the innings, especially while chasing.

On the other hand, the opener has faced the hard new ball which is easier to hit, and has batted in the powerplay with the field restrictions. Nonetheless, the two-time T20 World Cup winner even at the age of 41 is the biggest and the most sought-after attraction in T20 cricket.

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