Chris Gayle to auction his 10000-run landmark bat

Hard-hitting West Indies batsman Chris Gayle became the first man to reach the 10000-run landmark in the shortest format of the game. He achieved the distinction when he took the field for the Royal Challengers Bangalore against the Gujarat Lions at Rajkot in the 20th match of IPL 2017. The moment of brilliance arrived when he played down the fourth delivery of the fourth over bowled by Basil Thampi to the third man.

In the match, Chris Gayle hit 77 off just 38 balls with 7 sixes and 5 fours to his name. His efforts saw RCB post 213 runs on the board. Talking to Brett Lee in the mid-match break, Gayle expressed his happiness over reaching the landmark. He cited that reaching the landmark was on his mind. His West Indies and RCB teammate Samuel Badree had reminded him of the achievement prior to the commencement of the innings.

“It was great fun. Good to be back. I wanted this so badly. 10000 runs was on my mind. Badree told me before the match that I am three runs short. It’s a privilege to actually be the first to score 10,000 T20 runs. Pleased to get 77 runs. Hopefully we can finish off with a win tonight. It (10,000 runs milestone) was actually playing on my mind a bit but once I got there, I thought it’s time to have a go and it eventually paid off,” quoted Chris Gayle.

The Big Jamaican was all praise for his bat. He announced that the bat will be up for the auction. Also, during the match, he wanted to use a golden bat. Chris Gayle thanked all the franchises that he has played for and also the West Indies. He remarked that hitting sixes comes naturally to him.

“I have a great bat, the Spartan bat. Virat batted well. Great partnership between Jadhav and Head. Hopefully, the bowlers can utilize the wicket; variation is key on this wicket. The bat I got to 10000 runs with, will be in the auction and the money will go to charity. I wanted to use a gold bat tonight (laughs). Look for the Chris Gayle foundation… (he goes on to add that a special gold bat will go to the auctions, too),” he quoted.

“(Hitting sixes) is not really premeditated; comes naturally to me. Want to thank all the franchises and West Indies. I want to keep entertaining and get a few more thousand runs,” concluded Chris Gayle.