Chris Gayle's highest international score in ODIs is 215 against Zimbabwe at the 2015 World Cup
West Indies cricket announced that Chris Gayle will retire from ODI cricket after the 2019 World Cup later this year.
Gayle, who was earlier in the month, recalled in the Windies squad for the first two ODIs of the five-match ODI series against England, is set to play a fifty-over international game for the first time since July 2018.
Former West Indies captain and swashbuckling opener Chris Gayle announced that he will retire from one-day internationals after the 2019 ICC World Cup in England and Wales later this year.
The 39-year-old has so far played 284 ODIs and scored 9727 runs at an average of 37.12. The southpaw has slammed 23 hundreds and 49 half-centuries since making his debut in fifty-over cricket at Toronto in 1999 against India.
He is also one of the six batsmen to have hit a double century in ODIs. He achieved the feat against Zimbabwe, when he slammed 215 in the 2015 World Cup in Canberra. The other five are Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Rohit Sharma, Martin Guptill and Fakhar Zaman.
Known for his swashbuckling batting and power-hitting, Gayle has earned plaudits and fans around the world for his fearless hitting and larger than lifestyle.
As the 'Universe Boss' hangs up his boots, we take a look at five of his top knocks in one-day cricket.
215 vs Zimbabwe (ICC World Cup 2015)
The Universe Boss silenced his critics who criticized and claimed that his ODI career is over as he shut their mouth with a monstrous innings at the ICC World Cup 2015. At the big stage, it is always difficult for any player to dominate the innings but nothing is impossible for the Caribbean great. In the group stage match against Zimbabwe Gayle smashed 215 in 138 balls, the interesting thing in this innings was that he reached the first '100' run-mark in 105 balls and he went on to accelerate to bring up his first double century. He is also one of the six batsmen to have hit a double century in ODIs. The other five are Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Rohit Sharma, Martin Guptill and Fakhar Zaman.
133* (135) vs South Africa Semifinal (2006 ICC Champions Trophy)
The southpaw has always proved that he is a big stage player for the West Indies. His knock against South Africa in the 2006 ICC Champions Trophy semifinal proves that how big his aura in the cricketing world is. It was a race between the two teams to face the mighty Australians in the final of the tournament and the Proteas had put up a challenging target of 259 on the scoreboard and after that it was a one-man show from Chris Gayle. He smashed unbeaten 133 runs to take his team over victory line in the big ticket event.
132* (165) vs England (2004 Natwest Tri Series)
It was a time Gayle was making a name for himself and he decided to take the matter into his own hands against England in the 2004 Natwest Tri-Series. It was a high voltage match between the two countries. Andrew Strauss and Andrew Flintoff made centuries for the hosts and powered them to 285. It was a day for some Gayle Storm at the iconic Lord's as he smashed unbeaten 132* to pull off a cracker of a victory for his team to reach the final of the tournament against New Zealand.
4th ODI (D/N), West Indies tour of India at Ahmedabad
It was one of his top innings in the initial stage of career. The big man scored an outstanding 140 runs against India at Ahmedabad on November 15 2002 to show everyone his capabilities. Sometimes cricket is too harsh on some players as this was a top innings from the young guy but he ended up on the losing side thanks to a brilliant counter-attacking innings from the 'Wall of Indian cricket' Rahul Dravid. West Indies put 324/4 on the scoreboard but India reached the target in 47.4 overs with 5 wickets.
5th ODI, West Indies tour of New Zealand at Napier
In 2009, Gayle was on his full stride as the big opener from Caribbean smashed 135 off 129 against the fierce New Zealand bowling line up at Napier. But it was a hard day for West Indies at work as they put 293/9 on the board and their bowlers also bowled pretty well but rain struck and changed the momentum in New Zealand's favour. The hosts won the match by 9 runs thanks to Duckworth Lewis System. But the match was remembered for the Gayle Storm at Napier. He smashed nine fours and five sixes.
