Gayle credits Sangakkara’s advice for whirlwind knock

Mohammad Abdullah, Staff Reporter

Chris Gayle, the wrecker-in-chief, who blew away a sublime Maratha Arabians attack, credited Sri Lankan great Kumar Sangakkara’s advice for his whirlwind knock in their Abu Dhabi T10 match on Wednesday.

Riding on Gayle’s blitzkrieg knock, Team Abu Dhabi chased down the modest target of 97 for the loss of just one wicket with almost half the overs to spare to register in the biggest win in terms of balls remaining.

Gayle, who smacked a 22-ball 84, with the help of nine sixes and six fours, said listening to the Sri Lankan paying a heed to the advice of Lankan legend worked wonder for him.

“It feel good to be among the runs. The youngsters in the team wanted to see something new and they told me ‘We have seen Gayle but not seen it live.’ They could actually see something new,” said Gayle after winning knock.

“Sangakkara said a few things pertaining to my batting. I did not picked it up but you know a legend like him is noticing and he picked it me in a moment and mentioned it to me,” said Gayle of former Sri Lankan batsman Sangakkara, who is the mentor of the Team Abu Dhabi.

“So I listened to his advice and I was a bit more alert abbting wise today and it paid off finally,” said the swashbuckling West Indian bastman, whose 78 runs of 84 came in boundaries.

“Team Abu Dhabi is good and we are still there. Tomorrow is an important match let’s see what happens. It is up to us to win the game tomorrow and then whatever happens,” added Gayle who also equaled the record of the fastest 50, which was scored by Mohammad Shahzad off just 12 balls for Rajputs in the 2018 edition.