St Lucia Zouks Sign Up Chris Gayle Ahead Of CPL 2020

St Lucia Zouks have signed up Chris Gayle as their marquee player for the 2020 Caribbean Premier League (CPL). The most decorated batsman in the history of T20s, Chris Gayle has previously played for Jamaica Tallawahs and St Kitts & Nevis Patriots in the CPL.

The southpaw won the CPL title twice with the Tallawahs and played in the final with the Patriots in 2017. The former West Indies captain played for the Tallawahs in the first four CPL seasons, before spending the next two years with St Kitts and Nevis Patriots.

Tallawahs re-signed him last season but Chris Gayle failed to do well. He scored 116 in his second game, but ended the season with 243 runs in ten innings as the franchise finished bottom of the table. And with Tallawahs deciding against retaining the veteran batsman, Zouks have signed him up. Zouks had also exited the competition last season at the group stage.

In February, the St Lucia franchise was purchased by KPH Dream Cricket Private Limited, Kings XI Punjab’s parent company, and appointed Andy Flower as head coach. Gayle currently plays for Kings XI in the IPL.

“This is great news for St Lucia Zouks and for me as a captain to have the universe boss on my side. Chris is one of the most successful T20 batsmen in the world and with his experience with our young openers, a lot can be learnt from Chris,” said Zouks captain Darren Sammy,

“I welcome him to the Zouks Franchise. Chris will be in St Lucia and the fans will be happy that Jamaica has released him. I will have a motivated Chris Gayle looking to prove a point that he is one of the leading T20 batsmen in the world. I can’t wait for CPL 2020 and hopefully the Coronavirus will be under control and we can have an exciting T20 tournament. Welcome home Chris Gayle!,” he added.

The CPL is currently scheduled to take place between August 19 and September 26, but organisers are currently making contingency plans due to the Covid-19 pandemic. As of now there is little clarity over how the tournament will go ahead. There is a possibility that the tournament will be played behind closed doors or without overseas players, or delayed until December.

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