'The ICC T20I Cricketer of the Decade is hands down Chris Gayle'

Former Indian captain Sunil Gavaskar has opined that Chris Gayle should be the winner of the ICC T20I Cricketer of the Decade award.

Gavaskar and Matthew Hayden shared their picks for the prestigious accolade in a recent edition of the Star Sports show Cricket Connected.

Hayden cast his vote for Chris Gayle considering his impact on the shortest format of the game.

"For me, Chris Gayle is someone who has been such a force within the shorter version of the game."

The former Aussie opener observed that although the burly Jamaican has even scored a triple century in Test cricket, he is renowned for his exploits in T20 cricket.

"Let's not forget the fact that he has also got a Test three-hundred as well but he has been that player in my head who has gone through all the T20 tournaments and he has been that sort of seasoned veteran of the game."

Sunil Gavaskar also believes that Chris Gayle should win the award

Chris Gayle has scored more than 1000 runs in T20I cricket in the last ten years

Sunil Gavaskar also concurred with Hayden that Chris Gayle is the leading contender for the ICC T20I Cricketer of the Decade award.

"As Matthew said earlier on, it is also a question of who has actually helped his country to win the World Cup. And the West Indies have won two back-to-back T20 World Cups."

The former Indian opener reasoned that the self-proclaimed Universe Boss was an integral part of the West Indies team that won the T20I World Cups in 2012 and 2016.

"Therefore, clearly Chris Gayle who has been a big part of those two wins, as far as I am concerned he is the leading contender because he has changed the game."

Gavaskar signed off by stating that Chris Gayle is definitely his pick, as the big-hitter has made scores that an entire team would generally reach in a T20 encounter.

"When teams reach 175, this man has got that as his highest score in T20 cricket. Therefore, as far as I am concerned the ICC T20I Cricketer of the Decade is hands down the Universe Boss."

Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Lasith Malinga, Aaron Finch, Imran Tahir and Rashid Khan are the nominees apart from Chris Gayle for the ICC T20I Cricketer of the Decade award.

While the West Indian is certainly one of the favorites for the award, he is likely to get close competition from the two Indian batting stalwarts and the Sri Lankan quick.