Chris Gayle is considered as one of the greatest players in the history of Twenty20 cricket, scoring runs and hitting sixes unlike any other cricketer in history.
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In cricket, there have been several players who have ensured they leave their impression in a permanent way in the sport. Don Bradman’s average of 99.94 in Tests, his tally of centuries, most runs against one nation as well as in a series might never be broken. Sachin Tendulkar’s tally of Test and ODI centuries and the number of runs might not be overhauled. In the Twenty20 format, Chris Gayle’s numbers are staggering to note. A brief glimpse of his achievements does complete justice as to why he should be considered the greatest.
Gayle started playing T20 cricket in 2005 and since then, he has been on an absolute role. In a career of 17 years, he has played for 29 teams which also includes the West Indies. The numbers that he amassed make him the original gold standard of batting. The records that he accumulated while playing in the Big Bash League, Indian Premier League, Caribbean Premier League, and in all the other leagues the world over made him a trendsetter. Here are the records for most runs in T20s.
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| Player | Matches | Runs | Average | Strike-Rate | 50s | 100s | Fours | Sixes |
| Chris Gayle | 463 | 14562 | 36.22 | 144.75 | 88 | 22 | 1132 | 1056 |
| Shoaib Malik | 472 | 11698 | 36.55 | 127.13 | 71 | 0 | 910 | 365 |
| Kieron Pollard | 581 | 11427 | 31.56 | 151.87 | 56 | 1 | 723 | 764 |
| Aaron Finch | 347 | 10444 | 33.9 | 139.86 | 68 | 8 | 998 | 423 |
| David Warner | 313 | 10308 | 37.75 | 140.87 | 85 | 8 | 1005 | 389 |
| Virat Kohli | 326 | 10273 | 41.09 | 133.24 | 76 | 5 | 914 | 322 |
| Brendon McCullum | 370 | 9922 | 29.97 | 136.47 | 55 | 7 | 924 | 485 |
| Rohit Sharma | 370 | 9895 | 31.91 | 133.75 | 69 | 6 | 871 | 422 |
| Alex Hales | 336 | 9471 | 30.95 | 146.08 | 58 | 5 | 1054 | 365 |
| AB de Villiers | 340 | 9424 | 37.24 | 150.13 | 69 | 4 | 753 | 436 |
| Shane Watson | 343 | 8821 | 29.3 | 138.3 | 53 | 6 | 785 | 467 |
| Shikhar Dhawan | 303 | 8775 | 32.5 | 124.78 | 63 | 2 | 987 | 200 |
| Suresh Raina | 336 | 8654 | 32.17 | 137.45 | 53 | 4 | 779 | 325 |
| Luke Wright | 336 | 8368 | 29.46 | 143.09 | 46 | 7 | 885 | 297 |
| Martin Guptill | 293 | 8337 | 32.06 | 131.04 | 52 | 4 | 717 | 387 |
| Colin Munro | 327 | 8230 | 30.82 | 141.02 | 49 | 5 | 689 | 420 |
*Minimum cut-off is 8000 runs
When one looks at Chris Gayle in Twenty20 cricket, his records are not just staggering but remarkable. His consistency in the IPL, Big Bash League, Caribbean Premier League, and all the other leagues in the world highlights his brilliance. He holds the record for the fastest fifty in the Big Bash League, the fastest hundred in the IPL. In all the leagues, his name features in the list of fastest fifties and hundreds.
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Gayle is the first individual in history to go past 10,000 runs in Twenty20 cricket. He was one of the leading run-getters in the IPL before David Warner surpassed his mark. The mind-boggling stat, though, is his fours and sixes. In his entire career, Gayle has hit 1132 fours and 1106 sixes. Gayle is the only batter to hit 1000 sixes in the T20s. His nearest competition is Kieron Pollard, who is 764. Out of his 14562 runs, 74.6 percent of them have come in fours and sixes. This redefines power-hitting and aggression to an all-new level.
Gayle is the first player to 10,000, 1000 fours, and sixes in this format. His average, strike rate for a format that does not give a batsman enough time is also magnificent. Despite scoring 14562 runs in 463 matches, his average is still 36, and his strike rate is 144. His century tally is 22. That is higher than Aaron Finch, David Warner and Virat Kohli’s career tally put together. Chris Gayle is truly the Universe Boss of not just IPL but T20 cricket in general.
