West Indies batsman Chris Gayle has heavily criticised former captain Ramnaresh Sarwan.
Gayle recently joined the St Lucia Zouks for this year's Caribbean Premier League. He had left the Jamaica Tallawahs – and has pinned blame on Sarwan for the move.
“When I came back to the Tallawahs, Sarwan was assistant coach. Myself and Sarwan had a discussion, he wanted to be the head coach. When I left Jamaica Tallawahs, that team was a high-spirited team. But the amount of complaints I used to get when I wasn't there, the amount of problems they had with Sarwan – Russell was the captain at that time – the amount of problems that Sarwan and the captain have – so many players were traumatised because of Sarwan,” said Gayle.
Gayle and Sarwan were team-mates with the West Indies from 1999 to 2013. Sarwan has since retired, but Gayle has continued to play for T20 franchises around the world, including the Kings XI Punjab in the Indian Premier League.
“The amount of lies he used to tell on the players – him and the team management were not getting on. That goes to show your own people undermine you. Doesn't matter how far you and them are coming from, they still undermine you. Out of that era, I'm the only one active, playing. Everyone else retired. I'm the last man standing within that era and I'm still going strong,” added Gayle.
“So, it kind of hurt them to see Chris Gayle still playing and still being successful. I'm talking about past and present players. But I'm dealing with you, Sarwan. I'll deal with the others whenever that time comes.”
CPL and coronavirus
The 2020 CPL is scheduled to start on 19 August and conclude on 26 September. Whether the tournament proceeds, though, hangs in the balance. It, like plenty of other professional cricket, has been subjected to doubt amid the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.
The 2020 IPL has been suspended indefinitely as a preventative measure against the spread of the virus. Gayle's IPL franchise, Punjab, have never won the IPL. The Mumbai Indians are the reigning champions, after beating the Chennai Super Kings in the 2019 final.
