London: West Indies cricket legend Chris Gayle has said that a ‘lack of respect’ for him in the Indian Premier League for the last couple of years had prompted him to not send his entry for the mega auction earlier this year.
The 42-year-old opening batter, however, said he was looking forward to returning to play in the IPL next season with the aim to win the title for either Royal Challengers Bangalore or Punjab Kings. During his long association with IPL, Gayle has played for KKR, RCB and Punjab Kings.
Gayle has smashed the most number of sixes in the tournament’s history and has also scored IPL’s highest score of 175 in 2013.
“For the last couple of years, the way the IPL went about, I felt like I wasn’t treated properly,” Gayle told mirror.co.uk. “So I thought ‘okay, you (Gayle) didn’t get the respect you deserved after you did so much for the sport and IPL.’ So I said ‘okay, that’s it, I’m not going to bother to enter the draft,’ so I left it as it is. There is always going to (be) life after cricket so I’m just trying to adapt to normality.”
The batting stalwart expressed the desire to win his maiden IPL trophy for either Royal Challengers Bangalore or Punjab Kings.
“Next year I’m coming back, they need me! I’ve represented three teams in the IPL, Kolkata (Knight Riders), RCB and Punjab. Between RCB and Punjab, I would love to get a title, with one of those two teams. I had a great stint with RCB where I was more successful within the IPL, and Punjab, they’ve been good. I love to explore and I love challenges so let’s see what happens,” added Gayle.
–IANS