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The CPL SKN Patriots’ Chris Gayle, the brutal and entertaining Jamaican hard-hitter, is now in an elite club of his own – one for those with 10,000 T20 runs.

The CPL St.Kitts-Nevis Patriots Gayle became the first entrant of the exclusive club as he reached 3 while playing for the Royal Challengers Bangalore’s (RCB’s) against the Gujarat Lions in their 2017 Indian Premier League (IPL) match on Tuesday. He went on to score a 38-ball 77, with the help of seven sixes and five fours.

 

Before the start of the 2017 IPL, Gayle needed 63 runs to reach the 10,000 milestone. He scored 32, 6, 22 in the three matches he played prior to Tuesdays fixture. He was also dropped from two matches, which delayed the milestone.

 

Gayle might end up being the only one in the 10,000 club in T20s for a long time. No other batsman has crossed 8,000 runs in T20s with the second highest run-scorer after Gayle being Brendon McCullum (7596). Brad Hodge has 7338 runs to his name while David Warner has 7156 runs.

 

Gayle also became the first player to score more than 10,000 runs in three levels — first-class, list-A and T20s. And with Gayle’s feat, India added to its reputation of providing the perfect stage for entering the 10,000 clubs.

 

 

The 37-year-old Gayle, one of the most destructive limited-overs batsmen, has not been part of the West Indies national side since 2016.

 

Gayle last played an ODI for the West Indies during the 2015 World Cup, and last featured in a T20 International during the 2016 World T20.

 

His sour relationship with the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) has meant that international cricket has been robbed of an exciting talent.

 

Gayle, though, seems unbothered with the happenings on that front. He might not even have the time to delve into such issues as he is busy travelling the world to play in various leagues. Till early March, he was playing for Karachi Kings in the Pakistan Super League.

 

He has also been part of Australia’s Big Bash League, the Bangladesh Premier League, the Caribbean Premier League and even the Sri Lanka Premier League and is also set to feature in the inaugural #T20 Global Destination League, where he is an icon player.

 

In a world that’s concerned about the influence of T20 leagues on young cricketers, Gayle is a premier example of being an out-and-out darling of the franchises. He never leaves the T20 leagues the middle to serve the national team, and is always entertaining.