West Indies’ swashbuckling opening batsman Chris Gayle on Friday (January 8) said he would love to see cricket’s latest and shortest format – T10 in the Olympics, saying it would be huge for the game.
Gayle, the T20 globetrotter and the leading run-scorer in the shorter format of the game, believes that the T10 format – where a match usually takes 90 minutes to complete is ideally suited for the Olympics and it can pave way for cricket to make entry to the world's biggest sporting extravaganza.
Speaking from his home in Jamaica, Gayle said: “I would absolutely love to see T10 within the Olympics. It would be something huge for the sport from a general point of view.”
The ‘Universe Boss’ also called for the start of the T10 league in the United States since cricket is not known that well in US and it can help generate bigger revenues as well.
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He further added, “I also think T10 can be (held) within the United States also since it’s a big platform. I think most people don’t recognize the States (US) for cricket, but T10 is very much suitable to be held within the USA, and I believe it can help generate bigger revenues as well.”
The left-hander is all set to return to the Abu Dhabi T10 League after 2 years when he last played for Kerala Knights in the tournament and he is looking forward to playing for Team Abu Dhabi in the upcoming edition of the T10 league slated to take place from January 28 to February 6.
Gayle said: “First of all, I want to say that it's good to be back. Missed the past two seasons, so, it's good to be back within T10. At the moment, I’m actually getting some well-needed rest but keeping the Abu Dhabi T10 League in mind, I’m going to start some training soon and get ready to be back in business.”
The destructive opener continued, “There are lots of talented players who will be on the show, with the likes of Kieron Pollard and the other international players. So I'm definitely looking forward to be back with Team Abu Dhabi. South Africa's Chris Morris is also in my team, and I've played with him before, so it's good to be back playing with him and the boys again.”
He signed off by saying, “The organizers of the Abu Dhabi T10 League have (built) something fantastic here, so we should now look to spread it and we can get more guys involved and more countries involved within T10 for sure.”
(With ANI Inputs)
