West Indies opener Chris Gayle has admitted that he was surprised and disappointed after being snubbed by franchises during the players' auction of the Indian Premier League.
"I'm sure all those IPL franchises, everyone will know what I'm capable of. I didn't have anything to prove. It's unfortunate things didn't come off in the IPL, disappointed but at the same time you've got to live life and still got to move on," Gayle said.
"It's sad the way things go down but there's nothing I can do about it. Yeah I'm a bit surprised," the West Indian was quoted as saying by the 'Australian Associated Press'.
In what turned out to be one of the major embarrassments in his chequered career, none of the 10 franchises bid for Gayle after both rounds of auctions that concluded in Bangalore yesterday. He played for the Kolkata Knight Riders during the previous two seasons.
The Carribean destroyer, however, added that he was overlooked by all 10 IPL franchises for the fourth edition due to his international commitments.
Gayle would have only been available for about two weeks of the April 8-May 22 tournament, making his reserve price tag of USD 400,000 an expensive package.
"I think the franchise looks at it that they want their best player to be available for the full IPL. It's out of my hands," said Gayle, who smashed 32 runs in one over against New South Wales (NSW) yesterday.
{{/usCountry}}"I think the franchise looks at it that they want their best player to be available for the full IPL. It's out of my hands," said Gayle, who smashed 32 runs in one over against New South Wales (NSW) yesterday.
{{/usCountry}}Australian player Shaun Marsh, who has been retained by Kings XI Punjab franchisee after being snapped up for USD 400,000 said he was astonished when he first heard the news that Gayle was overlooked.
"It came as a huge surprise to everybody. He's a world-class player in all formats of the game, especially in Twenty20. So to see him not go up was very strange but I'm sure when he's available for the whole series in 2012 we'll see Chris Gayle there," Marsh said.