The meticulous World Boss

He is one of the last to walk into the ground. A photographer, who has been waiting patiently at one corner, goes "Gayle. Gayle. Gayle." No response. "Chris. Chris…Chrisss." Nothing again. The photographer tries one last time. "Boss. Boss, Boss." A shrug of his shoulders and a shake of the head. No meant no. Chris Gayle is not being mean. He is just not in the mood now to get distracted.

Bench presses, stomach crunches, some other customised stretches, and then, Gayle leans on the heavy medicine ball as the rest of squad enjoys warm-up soccer. Phil Simmons, the West Indies coach, shows Gayle the whiteboard listing the order of batting. He is first.

Jerome Taylor, Carlos Braithwaite and another net bowler are ready and waiting. Gayle faces six balls and edges twice before swapping with Johnson Charles, his opening partner from the Super 10 match against England. Charles seems uncomfortable against all three bowlers.

Gayle is back for his second turn. It is amazing to watch him from close proximity, right behind the nets. He stays so still. It seems to be his default position. Taylor is steaming in, but the only movement Gayle indulges in is with his eyes. The ball is angled across him, Gayle moves inside the line and steers the ball past backward point.

Power is something you usually associate with Gayle, but his game play has a lot to do with timing too. Unlike batsmen who keep tapping the pitch, hitting their pads, strapping and unstrapping their gloves and steadfastly sticking to their habits, Gayle is no busybody. The only thing he does is arch his back as if it is some spring before uncoiling into the batting position. He waits till the very last second and simply reacts.

Not once has he been beaten in the second set of six balls. Meanwhile, Charles' agony carries on. Finally, on the 18th delivery, Gayle makes his intent clear as he dismisses a long hop from the net bowler, a left-arm spinner, over mid-off. A straight, length delivery from Braithwaite is smashed for a straight six. Gayle has worked out the pitch, the bounce, the bowler.

But the focus remains. He has moved into the spinners' nets now. Bowling to him is the man who asked Gayle to entertain him against England - his drinking partner, Sulieman Benn. There are no words exchanged between them. Gayle does not rush into his shots. He pays respect to Benn, who is turning the ball nicely. But, when one is floated it up, Gayle takes the invitation, uses his feet for the first time, and clubs him over the imaginary deep midwicket.

Soon, Gayle has moved out of the nets, and is taking throwdowns from assistant coach Stuart Williams. Out in the open, you sense that Gayle wants to free his arms. Behind the sweat-stained singlet, you can see the muscles on his broad back stretching. But he is surprised by the bounce off the turf as the ball takes the edge on its way to third man. Both player and coach tap down the area where the ball pitched.

In the next few deliveries, Gayle has a hit and a miss. Then, he is surprised by a beamer that zips towards his face. Taking a quick backward step, Gayle raises his right hand to softly dab the ball down into the turf. Williams raises a hand in apology but Gayle is already taking guard for the next ball.

He starts hitting yorkers for sixes. He is whipping low full-tosses into the deep. He favours the arc between wide long-on and wide long-off and it is all clean hitting. No slogs. Elsewhere, Benn is toying with Charles, and having a loud chuckle. Charles is frustrated and hits his lap in frustration.

He has the most number of centuries in T20 cricket. He has the most ODI centuries for a West Indies batsman. He ranks third in the Test centuries list among West Indian openers, behind only Gordon Greenidge and Desmond Haynes. At times, it is easy to forget Gayle's legend amid the Gayle that the fans love: the World Boss, which he sells via social media.

Watch him train and you realise how serious he is about his cricket. A member of the support staff, who has seen Gayle for more than a decade, says, once he enters the field, he is dead serious. The jokes and the cackling can wait for the dressing room, team bus and the bars.

Through his immense experience, Gayle has managed to marry power with precision. Gayle does not use his feet against spinners. He simply trusts his reach and power. A Gayle six is rarely ever gives the fielders a chance. A Gayle six stays a huge six.

After knocking out England in Mumbai, Bangalore waits for Gayle with anticipation. He will be quietly confident. At Chinnaswamy Stadium, since the last World T20, he has hit 132 sixes from 934 deliveries - that is almost a six every 14 deliveries. The ground remains the most productive for him: 1577 runs in 35 innings at an average of 54.37 and a strike rate of 168.84.

Gayle will still be wary. Even though his last three T20I scores read: 77 off 31 balls, 90 off 41 and 100 not out off 48, he has fallen for single-digits seven times after a fifty-plus score. On six other occasions, he has got another fifty-plus score. Would it be boom or bust for Gayle on Sunday evening?