Chris Gayle to play T-20, EPL for Pokhara Rhinos

Kathmandu: Christopher Henry Gayle, a popular West Indies left-handed legend star batsman has readily agreed to play T-20 Cricket tournament for Pokhara Rhinos in the upcoming Everest Premier League ( EPL) slated to be held in Kathmandu.

This was disclosed at a press meet held in Kathmandu to declare the  Pokhara Rhinos’ new EPL team on Thursday. Pokhara Rhinos owner Deepa Agarwal speaking during the press meet said, ” Our team was motivated by EPL’s success to convince one of the best T-20 players and legend of the game, Chris Gayle, to feature in the tournament.”

The Pokhara Rhinos team Managing Director Aamir Akhtar said, “It took us around six months to convince Gayle to play T-20 cricket tournament from our team. Chris is one of the finest the game has ever seen in terms of power-hitting and strong-will, and I feel the inclusion of Chris Gayle will benefit Nepali Cricket and also the promotion of Visit Nepal 2020.”

After agreeing to play T-20 for Pokhara Rhinos,  Gyale remarked,  “I also need to play  IPL, so, the duration of my stay in Nepal will be decided accordingly.”

Playing for Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Indian Premier League (IPL), Gyale scored a 30-ball century that became the highest individual T20 score (175 not out). Gayle holds the record for most centuries in T20 cricket (22) and 15 out of his 22 T20 centuries have been not out.

On 18 April 2017, Gayle reached the 10,000 runs milestone in T20 cricket after scoring 77 runs off 38 balls playing for Royal Challengers Bangalore.

Likewise, other legends of the cricket including Devon Smith of West Indies has tied himself with Bhairahawa Gladiators, while former Sri Lankan captain Upul Tharanga has signed with Lalitpur Patriots and Afganistan’s Top-order batsman and wicket-keeper Mohamed Shahzad is set to align with Chitwan Tigers during the same EPL session.