The Jamaican-born batsman and T20 superstar was snubbed by all the franchises in the PSL draft
HBL’s Pakistan Super League Player drafted was conducted in a successful manner in which a lot of great players have been added to the next year’s competition. Despite all the buzz and news surrounding, there was one big surprise that all six franchises overlooked Chris Gayle in the draft despite being such a decorated player in the format. The 38-year old is the most dangerous in the 20-over format but no shown inclination on buying him in the auction ceremony held in Lahore.
Many cricket pundits stated the reason was Gayle’s poor form in the format and also commitment towards international cricket for West Indies. Gayle did return for West Indies against England in the one-day format and clearly stated that he wanted to contribute for his national side till 2019 Cricket World Cup. The left-handed batsman poor returns in the first editions clearly also did not help his cause as he only scored 103 runs for Lahore and then 160 runs for Karachi Kings in the second edition.
Chris Gayle might not have been a regular fixture in the competition in case he was selected by a given franchise for next year’s competition. West Indies are all set to take part in 2019 World Cup Qualifiers that will start from 1st March so ultimately Gayle would have missed a large share of games in the competition.
This year’s draft has seen a different trend than previous two editions as franchises have opted to pick players who are in good form rather than reputable names in the format. For example, Karachi Kings were able to opt for Former Australian pacer Mitchell Johnson for coming season while Lahore Qalandars bought Chris Lynn in an attempt to produce returns in the competition.
