Board pushed me into IPL, says Gayle

AFP

Thursday, April 21, 2011

GROS ISLET, Saint Lucia (AFP) — Chris Gayle claimed yesterday he had been frozen out by the West Indies Cricket Board and was left with no option but to choose the money-spinning IPL over national team duty.

The former captain said he was forced to accept an offer to play for the Royal Challengers Bangalore because he was not sure about his place in the West Indies team, following his axing for the opening matches of Pakistan's tour.

West Indies officials reacted angrily to Gayle's decision, and said they were less than pleased with the manner in which the he handled the situation.

They begrudgingly gave him a No Objection Certificate (NOC) to participate in the IPL.

But a few hours later Gayle blasted the WICB in a revealing radio interview from India.

He said after getting injured during the World Cup, he paid all expenses for medical treatment in Britain before returning home to Jamaica, where he took it upon himself to commence a rehabilitation programme with his personal trainer.

"A group of players were selected for a training camp in Barbados, and I never got a call, nobody spoke to me, and I decided to leave it alone," an emotional Gayle said in an hour-long interview on Jamaican radio station, KLAS Sports.

"I continued my training programme, and I came to find out via the media that a Twenty20 squad was announced, and a One-day International squad was announced, and I was stunned when I saw a big headline in the newspapers, 'Gayle, Sarwan, Chanderpaul dropped'."

Gayle said he was puzzled because no WICB official had actually called to check-up on him.

He felt the least they could have done was to call him to the training camp at the West Indies High Performance Centre in Bridgetown, and assess his fitness before making a decision about the team.

"The only communication I have had with anyone connected with the WICB was when I sent a text message to (team physio) CJ Clark, and gave him an update about how I was doing," he said.

"I told him I was feeling good, the progress I was making, I was running, I was in the gym, and working. His only response was that he would send a fitness programme, which I did not receive until the IPL offer had presented itself."