Jamaica Tallawahs release Chris Gayle ahead of CPL 2020; St Lucia pick West Indies legend

2019 was an eventful year for Chris Gayle. He initially mentioned that he will retire from international cricket after the World Cup, however, he took a step back and decided to push his retirement until the ODI series against India at home. However, later on, the veteran backed away from his decision. He didn’t have a great Caribbean Premier League (CPL) though while featuring for the Jamaica Tallawahs who have released him ahead of the 2020 season.

St Lucia Zouks have now signed Gayle for the upcoming edition of the CPL. The franchise is owned by KPH Dream Cricket Private Limited, the company which also owns Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) in the Indian Premier League (IPL). Chris Gayle is also contracted to KXIP in the IPL.

Red Chillies Entertainment is another company which simultaneously owns teams in the IPL and CPL, Kolkata Knight Riders and Trinbago Knight Riders respectively. This has led to TKR and KKR having some similar players and mostly the same coaching staff for both the leagues. It seems like KPH Dream Cricket Private Limited is also following the suit.

Darren Sammy welcomes Chris Gayle to the team

St Lucia Zouks captain Darren Sammy announced the arrival of the star player via a video which was uploaded on the official Twitter handle of St Lucia Zouks. Sammy said that it was great news that Gayle has joined his side. He talked about how having Gayle would help his side and also praised the Universe Boss as one of the leading T20 batsmen.

“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. 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” Sammy said according to the ESPNCricinfo report.

St Lucia has been one of the underperforming sides in the CPL. They haven’t won a single trophy so far. The franchise will hope for some turn in events if the CPL 2020 takes place as planned. Former Zimbabwe captain Andy Flower has been brought in as the head coach of the franchise as well

Chris Gayle is the highest run-getter in CPL history with 2354 runs. For the first four seasons, he represented Jamaica Tawallahs before moving to St Kitts and Nevis Patriots for the next two editions. For the 2019 season, he moved back to Jamaica. However, his second stint with the franchise wasn’t really successful, which might have prompted them to release him.

The CPL 2020 is scheduled to happen between August 19 and September 26. Due to the COVID-19 crisis, the tournament may happen without any crowds or foreign players. The tournament could also be shifted to December. There is no official update yet, but the organisers are trying hard to make it happen as per schedule.