Nepal
Chris Gayle has announced that he will be part of the fourth edition of the Everest Premier League, Nepal’s domestic T20 tournament. The West Indies batsman said he would be playing for Pokhara Rhinos in the tournament, which is scheduled to begin on February 29.
“I will be visiting Nepal for the biggest sporting event, the Everest Premier League,” Gayle said in a video message on Twitter. “Come and support my team Pokhara Rhinos and be part of a magnificent cricket fiesta.”
Gayle, who returned from a hamstring injury to play for the Chattogram Challengers in the second half of the Bangladesh Premier League, made 144 runs in four games. He was also part of Jozi Stars’ disastrous Mzansi Premier League campaign last season, following which he took a “break” from cricket for the rest of 2019, even expressing his unavailability to the West Indies selectors for the ODI series in India. During a recent media interaction in Dhaka, the 40-year-old said that he will continue playing T20s for a while yet.
He was also not part of West Indies’ recently concluded home series against Ireland, but the team management and selection panel had earlier said that the door was open to all players including seniors like Gayle to be part of the T20I side. His West Indies team-mate Dwayne Bravo recently made a comeback during the Ireland series, after coming out of international retirement aged 36.
Gayle last played for West Indies in what was expected to be his “farewell” game in the third ODI in Port-of-Spain against India in August. His last T20I was in March 2019 against England in Basseterre.—Agencies
