Chris Gayle, West Indian Superstar Scales a New Peak
Chris Gayle is the only batsman to have scored a triple hundred in Tests, a double in ODIs and a hundred in the T20is.
He's the rebel with plenty of causes, most of which have put him at loggerheads with West Indies officialdom, but no-one can deny that Chris Gayle is cricket box-office, a globe-trotting superstar with a bat for hire.
The 35-year-old Jamaican left-hander smashed the highest individual World Cup score of 215 on Tuesday, equalling the number of sixes in a one-day international innings with 16 and playing the alpha-male role in a record ODI partnership of 372 with Marlon Samuels. (Gayle Double Century Powers West Indies to 372 for Two vs Zimbabwe)
His innings came just days after West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) president Dave Cameroon embarrassingly retweeted a fan's call for the mercurial batsman to be pensioned off after another flop at the wicket.
"I was under pressure to score runs, and I kept getting messages from Twitter and on my cell phone from fans. I have never known so many people wanting Chris Gayle to do so well," Gayle said.
Gayle is and has been one of his team's few genuine match-winners in an era when the former kings of the sport have often been reduced to a supporting role.
But his roller-coaster relationship with the WICB has threatened his legacy. (Chris Gayle Inspired by Rohit Sharma's twin Double Hundreds)
On the eve of the World Cup, he accused the ruling body of victimisation for dropping Dwayne Bravo and Kieran Pollard from the squad as punishment for their role in last October's abandoned tour of India, a controversial gesture which landed the WICB with a bill for $42 million in compensation.
Gayle, as a result, has been summoned to appear before a disciplinary commission to explain his outburst.
Being carpeted is nothing new for Gayle, the reggae-loving, fast-car driving, unofficial trade unionist for the squad. (Chris Gayle Hits Fastest ODI Double Century, Breaks Virender Sehwag's Record)
Back in 2009, he was one of the leading figures in the decision to boycott a home series against Bangladesh, with all senior players refusing to take part in the Tests and one-dayers in a familiar row over money.
Six years on, Gayle is still in combative mood and on the eve of the team's departure for the World Cup he refused the offer of a central contract with speculation that with his patience for Test cricket waning, the hard-hitting batsman may call time on his international career.
Not that he'll be without offers of employment after his market value shot up on a dank, cloudy afternoon at Canberra's Manuka Oval on Tuesday.
His CV already lists 13 teams -- West Indies, Barisal Burners, Dhaka Gladiators, ICC World XI, Jamaica, Jamaica Tallawahs, Kolkata Knight Riders, Matabeleland Tuskers, Royal Challengers Bangalore, Stanford Superstars, Sydney Thunder, Western Australia and Worcestershire.
Gayle is hot-wired for Twenty20 cricket -- he hit the first century in Twenty20 internationals against South Africa in the World Twenty20 in 2007 and at the 2013 Indian Premier League he smashed 175.
But his 103 Tests have also proved fruitful since his 2000 debut.
Against Sri Lanka at Galle in 2010, he batted almost ten hours and scored 333 to become the only the fourth batsman to score two triples in Test cricket.