Gayle and the art of work-life balance
Chris Gayle warmed up, so to speak, for West Indies' opening match in the World T20 at a Mumbai disco in the company of Bollywood starlet Sneha Ullal. He was there for the launch of the latest single of close pal, team-mate and emerging rap artist Dwayne Bravo. Photos appeared on Instagram and in the Indian papers. Ullal described Gayle as "such a cool person" after they "danced and chatted".
A couple of days later, the muscular left-hander had switched venues from the disco to the Wankhede Stadium, where he belted a T20 international record 11 sixes in an unbeaten 100 off 48 balls, steering West Indies to the winning target of 183 with 11 balls to spare over England. "Aggressive as usual," Ullal tweeted.
Gayle's similar exploits over several seasons in the IPL rendered it virtually routine for the thousands packed into the stands. His unbeaten 175 off 66 balls for Royal Challengers Bangalore against Pune Warriors in April 2013 remains the highest score in the game's shortest format, the 17 strikes into the crowd the record for most sixes