A giant in the T20 format

The difference between Chris Gayle and the next-best on key parameters indicates his excellence in the format

18-Apr-2017

Chris Gayle's T20 numbers dwarf the rest of the competition  •  ESPNcricinfo Ltd

2478 The difference in aggregate between Chris Gayle and the next-highest in the T20s - Brendon McCullum is in second place with an aggregate of 7596. To put that aggregate difference in perspective, the difference between the aggregates of McCullum and the 20th-ranked Mahela Jayawardene is only 2069.

284 The difference between the number of sixes hit by Gayle and the next-highest in T20s - Gayle has struck 743 sixes, while Kieron Pollard is second with 459. The difference between Pollard and the 20th-ranked Cameron White is only 247.

Top run-getters in T20s
Player	Mat	Runs	Ave	SR	100s
CH Gayle	290	10,074	40.62	149.51	18
BB McCullum	272	7596	31.51	138.31	7
BJ Hodge	270	7338	36.87	131.27	2
KA Pollard	363	7087	30.54	151.72	0
DA Warner	227	7156	35.42	143.40	5
Shoaib Malik	271	6909	37.34	123.44	0
DR Smith	289	6767	26.22	126.79	3
V Kohli	212	6667	41.40	132.91	4
SK Raina	250	6589	33.44	138.80	3
LJ Wright	266	6296	28.61	144.8	6

74.8 Percentage of Gayle's T20 runs which have come in boundaries - he has hit 769 fours and 743 sixes. Among batsmen with at least 4000 T20 runs, the next-best percentage is Virender Sehwag's 69.7.

Highest % runs in boundaries in T20s (Min 4000 runs)
Player	Runs	SR	4s	6s	% bound
CH Gayle	10,074	149.51	769	743	74.79
V Sehwag	4061	147.83	487	147	69.69
RE Levi	4386	143.85	446	211	69.54
MJ Lumb	4955	138.02	595	175	69.22
DR Smith	6767	126.79	642	323	66.60
BB McCullum	7596	138.31	726	357	66.43
SR Watson	5636	138.95	497	287	65.83
DA Warner	7156	143.40	718	297	65.04
KA Pollard	7087	151.72	458	459	64.71
Yuvraj Singh	4254	132.23	327	241	64.74

18 Number of different teams for whom Gayle has played T20s. Apart from West Indies, they are: Barisal Bulls (also named Barisal Burners), Chittagong Vikings, Dhaka Gladiators, Jamaica, Jamaica Tallawahs, Karachi Kings, Kolkata Knight Riders, Lahore Qalandars, Lions, Matabeleland Tuskers, Melbourne Renegades, PCA XI, Royal Challengers Bangalore, Somerset, Stanford Superstars, Sydney Thunder and Western Australia.

15 T20 hundreds for Gayle in the period between 2011 and 2015, from 174 innings, which is an average of 11.6 innings per hundred. In the period before 2011 he scored one century in 51 innings, and since 2015 he has scored two in 56 innings. During the five-year period between 2011 and 2015, no other batsman scored more than five hundreds; the next-best was Michael Klinger with five.

6 Consecutive calendar years - from 2011 to 2016 - in which Gayle struck at least two T20 hundreds. Before 2011, he had hit only one T20 hundred.

Chris Gayle's T20 career
Period	Inngs	Runs	Ave	SR	100s	Dot %	BpB
Before 2011	51	1379	29.97	134.79	1	45.8	4.9
2011 to 2015	174	7094	48.58	152.36	15	42.4	4.4
2016 onwards	60	1601	28.58	151.18	2	47.3	4.3

1 Batsman with a strike rate better than Gayle's 149.56, among the 49 who have scored 4000-plus T20 runs: Pollard has a strike rate of 151.72.

43.6 Dot-ball percentage for Gayle. Among batsmen with 4000-plus runs, only two batsmen have a higher dot percentage: Dwayne Smith (46.5), and Lendl Simmons (45.8). (For matches where ball-by-ball data is available.)

Chris Gayle RCB vs Guj Lions IPL

S Rajesh is stats editor of ESPNcricinfo. @rajeshstats