Chris Gayle Player Profile: Chris Gayle Stats, Ranking, Records In Cricket

Chris Gayle Profile: One of the best entertainers to have featured in the Indian Premier League (IPL) - Christopher Henry Gayle – is already a legend in the era of T20 cricket. With 13,296 runs at 38.20, Chris Gayle has scored more runs in the T20s than any other professional cricketer. No other cricketer has touched the 10,000-mark in the T20s. While he has registered mind-boggling 22 hundreds in the shortest format, the next best in the list is the Aussie trio of Michael Klinger, David Warner, and Aaron Finch, who have scored eight centuries each so far in the T20s.

Gayle has featured is many T20 leagues, across the globe, starting with Australia's Big Bash League (BBL). Even though he was drafted by Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the inaugural edition of the IPL, he only got a game in the subsequent season. He had two quiet seasons with KKR before he moved to Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in 2011. He had to wait to get his first game for RCB, but when he did, Gayle never looked back. His debut match for RCB was against his former franchise KKR. Chasing a target of 172, Gayle slammed a 55-ball unbeaten 102 and helped RCB win by nine wickets.

RCB's decision to sign Gayle seemed to paid off when the 'Universal Boss' struck his second century of the IPL 2011 when RCB faced off Kings XI Punjab (KXIP). He scored 49-ball 107, which included nine sixes and 10 fours. In the same season, in a game against Kochi Tuskers, Gayle hammered 37 runs in a single over. He hit three sixes, three fours, and was awarded a no balls, which Gayle hit for a six. Even though one run was an extra, he still had hit 36 runs.

Gayle's maiden season with RCB turned out to be memorable as he received the Orange Cap for ending as the top-scorer with 608 runs in 12 games. He bettered his performance the following year as he scored 733 runs in 15 matches, including an unbeaten 128, which was his lone triple-digit score in IPL 2012.

Gayle will always be remembered for his freaky performance against Pune Warriors in IPL 2013. In a home match, RCB posted a mammoth 263 for 5 in 20 overs, courtesy of Gayle's unbelievable innings that broke multiple records. Gayle hammered a record 17 sixes and 13 fours to score 175 runs in just 66 balls. He scored the first 100 runs off just 30 balls and thereby registered the record of the fastest hundred in T20s, which is still intact.

Gayle bettered his record of most sixes in an innings when he struck 18 maximums while playing for Rangpur Riders against Dhaka Dynamites in the Bangladesh Premier League in 2017. Courtesy of Gayle's 69-ball 146, Riders won the match by 57 runs.

After scoring over 3,000 runs for RCB across seven seasons, Gayle moved to KXIP ahead of the IPL 2018. Gayle, who overall has scored 4,484 runs in the IPL, currently stands sixth in the list of most runs in the cash-rich tournament. Indian skipper Virat Kohli is the top-scorer in the IPL with 5,412 runs at 37.84. Gayle leads the IPL charts of most centuries, having registered six so far, ahead of Kohli (5) and David Warner (4).

Over the last two years, Gayle has struck a lethal left-right partnership with his opening partner KL Rahul, who is set to lead KXIP in IPL 2020. While Gayle scored 490 runs in IPL 2019, Rahul finished as the second-highest run-getter, having scored 593 runs in 14 matches. KXIP, who are yet to win the IPL trophy, will hope to see their explosive openers excel in the 13th edition, which is being played in the UAE.