Lanka Premier League 2020: Why is Chris Gayle not playing LPL 2020?

Chris Gayle not playing LPL 2020: The Universe Boss has decided to give the inaugural season of the Lanka Premier League a miss.

Veteran West Indies opening batsman Chris Gayle is a sought-after name in T20 leagues across the globe. Irrespective of how he performs, the 41-year old player’s sheer presence in T20 competition has it in it to make the tournament a box-office success.

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Gayle’s recent exploits were witnessed in the 13th season of the Indian Premier League where he turned up for Kings XI Punjab for the second time. In seven IPL 2020 matches, Gayle had scored 288 runs at an average and strike rate of 41.14 and 137.14 respectively including three half-centuries.

Why is Chris Gayle not playing LPL 2020?

As far as the upcoming inaugural season of the Lanka Premier League is concerned, Gayle was slated to become the centre of attraction via his stint for Kandy Tuskers.

While Tuskers had earlier expressed confidence regarding Gayle arriving in the island nation on November 19, their tweet spoke of the otherwise yesterday. “We are sad to announce that Chris Gayle will not be playing for us in this year’s @LPLT20_,” read Tuskers’ tweet.

We are sad to announce that Chris Gayle will not be playing for us in this year’s @LPLT20_ https://t.co/zI6RmJlXkQ

— Kandy Tuskers (@KandyTuskers) November 18, 2020

According to ESPNcricinfo, the reason behind the postponement of Gayle’s arrival in Sri Lanka was him negotiating the terms of his contract with the franchise. However, Gayle is now said to have decided to skip LPL 2020 on account of an injury. Kandy are yet to name a replacement for the Universe Boss.

Other than Gayle, the likes of veteran England players in Liam Plunkett and Ravi Bopara have also decided to miss Lanka Premier League 2020 which is set to be played between November 26 – December 16 at the Sooriyawewa stadium.

About the author

Dixit Bhargav

Born and brought up in Pathankot, Dixit Bhargav is an engineering and sports management graduate who works as a Cricket Editor at The SportsRush. Having written more than 10,000 articles across more than five years at TSR, his first cricketing memory dates back to 2002 when former India captain Sourav Ganguly had waved his jersey at the historic Lord’s balcony. What followed for an 8-year-old was an instant adulation for both Ganguly and the sport. The optimist in him is waiting for the day when Punjab Kings will win their maiden Indian Premier League title. When not watching cricket, he is mostly found in a cinema hall watching a Punjabi movie.

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