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Is Chris Gayle great ?

Ilovecric

U19 Cricketer
Well the article argues he is not a conventional great and obviously this is looking beyond T20. But in terms of power hitting and being an excellent test opener while maintaining his revolutionary short format scoring should put him in a unique place. I think his exploits in T20 certainly garnered more interest in the format. I remember his first IPL - came in late but ended up with the most sixes and runs in the tournament.
 

cnerd123

likes this
How many more would he need to play to be considered a great ? Name current players who has or is doing what he's doing better.
Read someone somewhere describe KP as not a great player, but a player of great innings.

Gayle kinda fits that bracket too, as do several other players.

I suppose it's the values of consistent excellent and performance that makes a player great, and not just flashes of brilliance and a handful of broken records.
 

Ilovecric

U19 Cricketer
I think people should keep in mind this view is not radical as cricket fans support this view BBC Sport - Tendulkar, Gilchrist, Gayle & Wasim all in greatest ODI XI

There is nobody in the international game who is as consistent as he in in terms of attacking and capable of attacking the way he does. Guys like Dhoni will have higher averages because they bat the end of the innings which means more NOs.

Great to watch.
Read someone somewhere describe KP as not a great player, but a player of great innings.

Gayle kinda fits that bracket too, as do several other players.

I suppose it's the values of consistent excellent and performance that makes a player great, and not just flashes of brilliance and a handful of broken records.

In T20 He hits a six every 9 balls and four every 8 balls while entertaining players like AB takes 20 to hit a six and 9 to hit fours. He hits big shots while averaging twice as much as AB. This is why he is better to watch because the show is more exciting and last much longer.
 

Riggins

International Captain
How many more would he need to play to be considered a great ? Name current players who has or is doing what he's doing better.
It doesn't matter how many 'great' knocks he plays sporadically. To be genuinely considered a 'great' player he should be putting up 'good' performances much more frequently, imo.
 

Ilovecric

U19 Cricketer
Didn't know this was a t20 discussion. I would have steered clear.
Who would accuse gayle of being a great test player ? And his ODi record is right up there with the rest of them. He wasn't get much runs recently but he is certainly a great ODI player. I think the issue with some people was expressed in the article - that gayle is a transformation force in the game. Because while you're thinking about test match consistency (Gayle averages 42 btw as an opener) the game is expanding towards another direction and gayle is spearheading this move - being a free lancer and setting a high bar to reach for future T20 greats.
 

Red

The normal awards that everyone else has
He's a great ODI and T20 player. Completely destructive batsman and pretty handy bowling option.

As a test player he's not a "great", but he's been a pretty decent test cricketer over a lot of tests. It's pretty simplistic to say, but anyone who plays over 100 tests and averages over 40 batting in the top order is pretty damn good imo.
 

G.I.Joe

International Coach
Read someone somewhere describe KP as not a great player, but a player of great innings.

Gayle kinda fits that bracket too, as do several other players.

I suppose it's the values of consistent excellent and performance that makes a player great, and not just flashes of brilliance and a handful of broken records.
I was thinking of making this point with Laxman as an example, but decided that it wasn't apt here because Laxman didn't spend the intervals between great innings being complete ****house. Ended up pin pointing to myself why I don't intuitively consider Gayle a great.
 

Contra

Cricketer Of The Year
Gayle also missed out on some peak batting years after the issue he had with the board back a few years ago.
 

GirtBySea

U19 12th Man
In one of the easiest eras of batting? Yes, a matchwinner when on and in but inconsistent and flashy. Dravid is a great imo who does not possess the same amount of talent as Gayle but was damn effective.
 

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