Chris Gayle interview: The 'Universe Boss' on being king of T20 and why simplicity is key to his success

It must be exhausting being the Universe Boss. When we meet, Chris Gayle is lying down on a sofa in a lounge in a London hotel room; throughout our interview, his sunglasses remain squarely on.

Gayle long ago made the transition from mere sportsman to performative celebrity, a man who - for good or bad - often seems to act as he does because it is how he is expected to. 

If you believe his Instagram feed, the main challenge in his life is telling where one party ends and the next begins. No one has been more associated with the life of the Twenty20 freelance cricketer; no one, certainly, has done more to glamorise it.

Yet, for all the bravado and third-person references to the Universe Boss, perception and reality are very different. The T20 circuit is a world in which even being a name as big as Gayle brings no guarantees - which explains why he is in London, promoting a new app called All Rounder, offering coaching tips to children, rather than playing in this year’s Indian Premier League.

“These days the game’s changed so much,” he says while remaining lying down. “It’s more of a business. Nobody’s loyal to you.

“You just have to know what you’re involved in so when that time comes you’re not necessarily going to get hit hard and say I had my trust in you, I was loyal to you. It’s just the way it is right now.”

Even before Covid-19 curtailed players’ freedoms, Gayle long ago grew tired of the drudgery of living in hotel rooms. “It can be a mini-prison. Even when you go back home you’re still living out of your suitcase because you’ve been doing that for 20-odd years. That’s the struggle.”

From Jimmy Anderson to Tom Brady, Cristiano Ronaldo to the Williams sisters, sport is in an age when the very best athletes are enjoying longer careers than the superstars of a generation ago. Gayle is not often put in this company, but really he should be: he made his international debut last century and turns 43 in September. Rather than a bespoke diet, Gayle credits his mental strength, and capacity to respond to failure, with his longevity.

'If you're not mentally strong you'll walk away'

“If you watch my career it’s a lot of failures more than success over the 20 years. As a cricketer you have to understand you’ll fail more than you succeed.

“It’s tough man. That’s why I’m saying if you’re not mentally strong you’ll walk away from the game. Especially if you’re not performing well it’s even tougher. But you have to embrace it - accept it and tell yourself you will bounce back and come back stronger. You’ve got to know how to pull through these moments.”

The other reason why Gayle has been around so long, of course, is that he is so good. The best measure of his quality is a record that he uniquely owns - the 3-2-1: a Test match triple century (actually, two), a one-day international double century, and a T20 international century (two, again). 

Asked which of these numbers he treasures most, he replies: “The triple century obviously - it’s hard work to bat for a day and a half. It’s not easy.” 

In T20, Gayle has often worn the shirt number 333, his highest Test score. He recounts how that innings in Sri Lanka in 2010 was particularly satisfying because, on his previous tour there, he had been dismissed five times out of six by left-armer Chaminda Vaas: such powers of recall give a hint of Gayle’s deep fount of cricketing wisdom.

Gayle the Test cricketer is often overlooked. Yet he played 103 Tests, scoring 7,214 runs at an average of 42.18 - more runs, at a higher average, than his near-contemporary Andrew Strauss. “Most people know where I stand when it comes to all formats,” Gayle says. “They say I’m the king of Twenty20s so if you’re the king be the king of something.”

No one understands more than Gayle about how to score a T20 century. He has scored 22; no one else has mustered more than eight, which explains why Gayle is known as the Bradman of T20. 

However tempting it is to explain away these centuries by his capacity to hit sixes alone, the truth is altogether more complex. It was through learning to give himself time that Gayle found a way to combine his rapid scoring with remarkable consistency.

“When T20 started we were pretty much trying to hit from ball one. In some innings, you have that momentum, where you get in the rhythm but sometimes you give yourself a chance and see what’s happening. You have more time than you think - and you can make it up as well. It’s good to have a set batter in the back end. The game awareness is very critical as well, knowing when to go and when to hold back.”

As part of his distinctive approach, Gayle embraces dot balls at the start of his innings: he plays out more dot balls in his first 10 deliveries of an innings than any batsman in T20 history. 

It is a game of high stakes, and occasionally can go wrong - in the 2012 T20 World Cup final, he scored three off 16 balls. But the trade-off is that, when Gayle is set, he has an unrivalled capacity to bend an innings to his will, regardless of where the fielders are.

“Where I’m even more dominant is after the sixth over. After the Powerplay, most players tend to slow down a bit. I still can be more explosive because that’s when the main spinners will come on.”

But Gayle is notably piqued when discussing the new tactical tendency for teams to move him down to No 3, borne of trying to maximise his potency against spin. “That’s absolutely rubbish, how can you have the number one player batting at number three?”

Thirteen years ago, Gayle was once equally disparaging of Test cricket, famously saying that he would “not be so sad” if the game died. Now, he speaks passionately when asked if countries like the West Indies need more support from the International Cricket Council and the sport's wealthiest nations.

“Absolutely - I’m glad you made the point. The only people who are really benefiting is Australia, England, India - those are the top tier when it comes to Test cricket. Like Bangladesh, Zimbabwe, we need to grow them a bit more - those guys get like one Test match here and there. They’re treating it as a business when India play against England, Australia, it’s big bucks for them. But we - the lower ranked teams - need to be looked after.”

You sense that it might not be easy for Gayle to leave the stage. He wants to play for two more years. “The body feels good and the mind still feels good. I’m still seeing properly,” he laughs. “I’ve still got the urge and passion to play.” Curiously, Gayle plans to take most of the year off - a sabbatical aged 42 - but then play for another two years, until he is 45.

'Always be true to yourself and keep it very very simple'

What will come after retirement is intriguing. Commentary, Gayle says, is not for him; indeed, he does not want to discuss the derogatory comments to a female journalist in Australia in 2016. Coaching also doesn’t appeal. 

But Gayle still intends to remain involved in the sport in another way, imparting the knowledge gleaned from his twin T20 World Cup wins in 2012 and 2016.

“I’d love to mentor cricketers - educate them how to be mentally tough.” Evin Lewis is among the younger West Indian players to ask Gayle for his advice about how to navigate T20 batting and life.

“Any time they see me they’ll still ask for advice - I’ll try my best to guide them on the right path,” Gayle says. “Sometimes they don’t feel things going according to plans and need to talk to somebody to make sure they’re mentally ready.”

Asked what he would tell his younger self, Gayle chuckles. “I wouldn’t change anything. Advice - keep being who you are, always be true to yourself, never try to cheat the sport, be true to yourself, keep it very very simple.”

The Cricket All Rounders app, featuring coaching tips from professionals including Chris Gayle and Jimmy Anderson, and aimed at children aged 8 to 15, is available to download now.