'End of era in best T20 league' - Fans disappointed as Chris Gayle didn't give his name for IPL 2022 mega auction

The IPL 2022 mega auction is all set to get underway in February and it remains to be seen how teams will unfold their strategies in the mega event. A total of 1214 cricketers have registered for the mega auction including 312 uncapped and 270 capped players. However, there are several notable absentees from the auction list and one such player who has turned all the heads stands to be Chris Gayle.

Gayle, popularly known as Universe Boss, has not given his name for the upcoming auction and fans might seem to be highly disappointed with the fact. Though there are no clear reasons for his absence, it can be assumed that he hasn’t been able to perform well with the bat lately. With age not being in his favour, he might be looking forward to calling a day on his T20 career.

It has to be noted that Gayle already talked of ending his international career in front of his home crowd and CWI also talked of giving him farewell against Ireland in January 2022. But he wasn’t picked for England and Ireland series and CWI stated honoring him well later.

Here is how fans reacted to Gayle’s absence from IPL 2022 auction

Chris Gayle scored only 193 runs in IPL 2021 in total 10 games

“Gayle has been a phenomenal performer for Jamaica and the West Indies since he was a teenager. He deserves to be thanked and honoured by fans. Cricket West Indies will find the right way to make that happen in a manner that Chris can enjoy,” said CWI chief earlier.

Talking of his IPL 2021 performance, Gayle could muster only 193 runs in 10 games at a meager average of 21.44. It stood out to be a very unacceptable performance given his impressive stats in the season before 2021. He got fans glued to the TV screens while hitting sixes for fun and gathered runs in his kitty with a strike rate of 148.96 (average of all IPL seasons).

Mitchell Starc, Ben Stokes, Chris Woakes, Sam Curran, and Jofra Archer have also not given their names for IPL 2022 mega auction to take place in February.