Chris Gayle drops massive retirement hint on social media, says 'I ain't leaving...'

West Indies batter Chris Gayle has dropped a massive hint in regards to his retirement from international cricket. Gayle has indicated that he will continue playing cricket for West Indies at the highest level despite failing to put up a show at the recently-concluded T20 World Cup. Gayle on Thursday, November 18, turned to Twitter to post a cryptic tweet, where he wrote, "I ain't leaving..." Earlier this month, after West Indies were eliminated from the marque ICC event, Gayle had clarified that he has not officially announced his retirement yet and that he wants to play his last match in Jamaica, his hometown. 

After West Indies' last World Cup match against Australia, Gayle had said that he would love to play one more World Cup for the Men in Maroon but added that he will not be allowed to do so by his board. Gayle had received a standing ovation from his teammates as he was returning to the pavilion after being dismissed in his last World Cup game against Australia. Gayle along with Dwayne Bravo was also given a guard of honour by members of both teams after the end of the match. However, Gayle was spotted joking around and not taking the gesture seriously, indicating that he's got more matches to play in the future. 

Gayle was in abysmal form during the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021, where he played six matches for West Indies and scored just 65 runs. The right-handed batter did not score more than 20 in any of his World Cup innings this year. Gayle, however, picked one wicket to his name as a consolation after he dismissed Mitchell Marsh in his last game of the competition. 

Chris Gayle's career

Gayle is regarded as one of the finest batters of the shortest format. He has scored a total of 14,321 T20 runs from 445 innings, including 22 centuries, the highest for any batter in the world. Gayle has also played 103 Test matches, 301 ODI games, and 79 T20 internationals. he has 7,214 runs in Test cricket, 10,480 runs in the 50-over format, and 1,899 runs in T20Is. The 42-year-old was the first batter to hit a century in T20 internationals, a feat he achieved during the inaugural edition of the T20 World Cup. Gayle has also won two T20 World Cups with the West Indies team. 

Image: T20WorldCup/ICC