One of the funniest incidents of the 2016 World T20 was seen on the sidelines of the West Indies vs Sri Lanka match in Bengaluru, when umpire Ian Gould dragged Chris Gayle from near the boundary ropes to inside the stadium’s facilities, not allowing him to come on to bat.
West Indies pulled off a comfortable 7-wicket victory with 10 balls remaining, but without a contribution from their destroyer-in-chief Chris Gayle. Gayle was not allowed to open the Windies innings because he had spent considerable time off the field while his team were fielding, impaired with a left hamstring injury.
He was seen near the boundary ropes while his team were batting, ready to come one whenever required, despite still carrying the injury. It looked like he would come on to bat when Denesh Ramdin was dismissed in the 13th over, but he was not allowed to bat then because of the time he had spent off the field.
At that stage, he needed either 11 more minutes to pass or two more wickets to fall, so Andre Russell was sent as No. 5 instead. According to ICC rules, an injured player who has left the field is required to spend a period back on the field at least equal to the time that they were absent before they are allowed to bat or bowl.
‘We want Gayle’, chants Bengaluru crowd
After that, the crowd thought Gayle was coming out to bat when Andre Fletcher looked to have edged behind to the keeper off the first ball of the 16th over, but it turned out that the ball had bounced before Dinesh Chandimal took the catch.
When Russell skied a ball in the 18th over, it looked as though the southpaw might finally come in and finish things but the fielder at third man dropped it. Gayle was denied a chance to showcase what he does best, and the Bengaluru crowd were denied a chance to see one of their favourite performers take the stage.
While Gayle was waiting for his turn, umpire Ian Gould, who shares a great rapport with the players, was seen pushing the batsman away from the field, as the both of them broke into wide smiles.
Gayle later tweeted about the incident, and it appears that this is what the umpire told him while pushing him:
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