Featuring in his fifth and final ODI World Cup, veteran West Indies opener Chris Gayle has said that his reflexes might have slowed down but bowlers around the world are still scared of him.
Gayle will enter into the quadrennial event on the back of a fantastic IPL 2019 wherein he amassed 490 runs from 13 innings while playing for Kings XI Punjab. Prior to that, the southpaw took the England bowling attack apart in the five-ODI series at home by aggregating 424 runs at an average of 106, including 39 sixes.
"Youngsters coming at my head - it's not as easy as it was like one time before. I was quicker then," Gayle told cricket.com.au.
"But they'll be wary. They know what the Universe Boss is capable of. I'm sure they will have it in the back of their mind, 'Hey, this is the most dangerous batsman they've ever seen in cricket.'"
Asked if oppositions are still scared of his potent force, Gayle said: "Can't you tell? You go ask them.
"Go ask them on camera. They're going to say, no, they're not scared. But you ask them off the camera, they going to say, 'Yeah, he's the man. He's the man.' They're going to say, 'he's the man.'
"But they won't say it (on camera), they won't be frank and upfront and say, 'Listen to me straight up, Chris Gayle is the man.'
"But I'm enjoying it. I'm always enjoying the battle against fast bowlers, it's good. Sometimes those things actually give you extra drive as a batter. When you have a battle, I like those challenges."
Gayle, who has already announced that he will retire from ODI cricket after the mega event, said he has nothing left to prove and is now just playing for the fans. He also believes that the Caribbean side has all the ingredients to lift the coveted trophy.
"To be honest with you, it's the fans, it's the love of the game. Sometimes as sportsmen, they don't know when to walk away. Because sometimes you might feel at your peak, but eventually you have to leave the game at some point in time," he said.
"If you're enjoying it, it's always easy (to keep playing) and I’m enjoying it. I've been having a lot of fun on the field, and it's a great bunch of guys as well – that's important.
"The dressing room is always going to play a key part for me as an individual. These guys spur you on. The fans are always asking you for more sixes. Those things give you that extra drive.
"There's nothing to go out there and prove, the only thing that would be nice is to win the World Cup."
The left-hander said he will have to keep himself in the right frame of mind considering the length of the World Cup. England will host the marquee event from May 30 to July 14.
"I am still in good nick. I had a not-so-bad IPL, coming after the home series against England.
"The good thing about it is I've been playing cricket. It's important for me to keep playing and get some games under my belt and come here to the UK and start with a few warm-up games as well to see where you're at.
"It's a long tournament. For me personally I just have to monitor it as much as possible and just get the mindset right."
