I'm the greatest off-spinner of all time: Chris Gayle

Chris Gayle’s impeccable sense of humor makes him one of the most entertaining personalities to talk to in the cricketing fabric and if his preceding jests weren’t strong enough, he added a new one to the list, calling himself the best off-spinner in the world. Well, who could disagree with the Universe boss after all?

Being the face of the 6ixty, the latest addition to the long list of the various formats of the sport, Gayle wanted to have a chat about his bowling prowess. In fact, such intense was the desire to stamp his authority, that he would claim that he is better than Muttiah Muralitharan when it comes to off-spin.

Talking about his superhuman spinning prowess, he told ESPNCricinfo, “You know what? My bowling is natural. Definitely, I have to bowl. I'm the greatest off-spinner of all time. Murali (Muttiah Muralitharan) won't contest that for sure. I have the best economy, not even Sunil Narine can come close to that.”

Best off-spinner or not, Gayle’s batting heroics is unparalleled in the shortest format of the game as his tally reads an overwhelming 14,562 runs in his entire T20 career that precedes the long list of the pursuers by the proverbial mile.

The hard-hitting Caribbean opener will be back to the field for the upcoming 6ixty, a tournament that will witness cricket with an intriguing twist. Talking about the innovation of the tournament, Gayle said, “I'm really excited to be back in the field. I missed it. I'm like a kid again, looking forward to the first game... For my debut. I'll have to get back in shape. I'm still in shape but just a little prep here and there to get in that mindset of playing cricket.”

He concluded by talking about the difference between the willow and the leather in the newer versions of the tournament, as he said, “Bowlers nowadays are creative. They've got a lot of variations and they make it challenging for the batters. Of course, the batting part is more dominant in shorter forms but the bowlers have a lot of skills to make it uncomfortable for the batter. It's gonna be interesting from the batters' point of view. Saint Kitts is a small ground, I'm expecting good pitches. It's gonna be exciting, there's gonna be a lot of chaos. It'll be up to us how we make it even more interesting for the fans out there.” 

The hard-hitting titan from West Indies was recently inducted into the RCB hall of fame alongside AB de Villiers for his overwhelming exploits in Red and Gold. Having been picked by RCB in 2011, he left a trail of carnage following suit wherever he went. He is the third-highest run-scorer for RCB with 3420 runs from 91 matches at a fine average of 43.29 and a strike rate of 154.40. He boasts of 5 tons which is the joint-highest number of centuries scored by any Challenger alongside Virat Kohli. He is also the highest run-scorer in T20 history with 14562 runs that has seen him smash 22 centuries and 88 half-centuries at a stunning strike rate of 144.75.