T20 cricket has impacted on Tests says Gayle

“T20s have changed the way test cricket is played today. When you look at any day’s play, 180 to 200 used to be scored earlier in a day in tests. Today, one gets to see scores close to 300 being hit and that’s happened due to the advent of t20s. Test players who play t20s develop skills to score runs quickly. David Warner is a good example of that and that’s how myself or even Virender Sehwag have scored a lot of runs in tests,” he said.

Gayle last played test cricket in 2014 at home against Bangladesh but once more professed that he is interested in returning to the format. “With regards to me playing tests - yes, it’s a possibility. The talks are on and we will have to wait and see what happens,” he noted. Gayle helped West Indies reclaim the World t20 title earlier this year and recently played against India in the Florida t20s but made himself unavailable for
duty against Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates (three T20s from September 23-27).

He’s currently in India and promoted Skore condoms with fellow brand ambassador, Dwayne Bravo last week, as well as for a support circuit in Chennai for the Tamil
Nadu Premier League (TNPL). He is also hosting another launch in New Delhi today for his book ‘six Machine’ with the likes of BCCI president (Anurag Thakur) and Sehwag part of the proceedings.

Gayle, who notched 7,214 test runs from 103 matches at an average of 42.18, then touched on the disparity between West Indies’ test performances after India won the recent four-match rubber 2-0 in the Caribbean. “When I look at both formats of the game, I feel we fail to concentrate for longer periods of time (in tests). this has been the case since the time I made my debut under Brian Lara. We only play (quality) cricket for short sessions and we win a session here or there. And then, we switch off and that’s why we tend to lose a lot of test matches. Having patience and batting for long sessions is something that’s been lacking (in West Indies test team). that’s not the case in T20s as we have the experience and the talent to go the distance,” he mentioned.

The Jamaican maintained that T20 suited the region’s players better. “Most of the players in our side play T20 competitions all over the world and have the experience needed to play in this format. We are a naturally gifted T20 side with some superb fielders and great all-rounders,” stated Gayle. He also hopes that apart from the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) and a few West Indies cameos, more cricket graces the United states. “I thought the turnout in the Us was fantastic. to have been able to organise games at such short notice was nice. the Us can definitely be a great market for international cricket and we hope to see more international matches being held there in the future,” he concluded.