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‘Nothing gives me more joy than hitting sixes vs Aussies’
NEW DELHI: Chris Gayle has turned author. The 36-year-old joined Sir Curtly Ambrose and Tino Best as Caribbean cricketers who recently took to writing autobiographies.
NEW DELHI: Chris Gayle has turned author. The 36-year-old joined Sir Curtly Ambrose and Tino Best as Caribbean cricketers who recently took to writing autobiographies. If reputation is anything to go by, ‘Six Machine’ promises to be a breezy read.
Gayle, the only man to hit the first ball of a Test for six, was at his witty best as he shared the stage with Virender Sehwag and BCCI president Anurag Thakur at the book launch.
No stranger to providing houseful entertainment, Sehwag said Gayle and he often discussed ways to hit the ball further in the orbit.
“We often discussed how to hit sixes and score quickly rather than occupying the crease for 6-7 hours. We talked about ways to thrash the Australians because they play their cricket hard,” said Sehwag.
“Yes man, nothing gives me more pleasure than hitting sixes against the Australians,” added Gayle amid peals of laughter.
The towering Jamaican, however, was quick to hit a poignant note as he said the heart surgery in 2005 changed his perspective towards life.
“Nobody knows I was diagnosed with a hole in my heart in Australia. I was forced to undergo surgery and I informed my parents after the procedure,” said Gayle. “I realised the importance of life. It was a life-changing moment. Thereafter, I decided to enjoy life to the fullest and I am still doing so.”
For a man who wears the ‘Casanova’ tag on the sleeve, Gayle’s admission that fatherhood is a “different feeling altogether” came as a surprise. He turned father in April, and named his daughter Blush.
“It’s a new challenge to be a family man but I now can proudly say that I am a father of a beautiful daughter. My daughter is the most prized possession of my life. I have achieved pretty much everything I wanted to. It’s a different feeling altogether,” he said.
Gayle added the book will be a window to lesser-known aspects of his life. “Most people have seen Chris Gayle on the screen; they don’t know me. This book will give an insight into my childhood days, and hopefully it will inspire people,” he said.
