Chris Gayle pulled out of IPL 2021 midway due to bubble fatigue. In a statement, the ‘Universe Boss’ said that he wished to  to mentally recharge and refresh himself. For unknown reasons the West Indies star did not come back for the 2022 season. 

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Gayle dominated IPL in the last decade. The 42-year-old represented the Kolkata Knight Riders, Royal Challengers Bangalore, and Kings XI Punjab/Punjab Kings. He has 4965 runs against his name at 39.72 and a whopping strike rate of over 148. His highest score was an unbeaten 175 against the Rising Pune Supergiants. Chris Gayle hit six centuries and 31 tons. He holds the record of most number of sixes – 357. 

Even with such a dominating run, the ‘Universe Boss’ didn’t return to the league. He revealed the reason an interview with England’s Mirror. The West Indian cited a lack of “respect” as the reason behind opting out of IPL 2022. 

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“For the last couple of years, the way the IPL went about, I felt like I wasn’t treated properly, “So I thought ‘okay, you (Gayle) didn’t get the respect you deserved after you did so much for the sport and IPL.’ So I said ‘okay, that’s it, I’m not going to bother to enter the draft,’ so I left it as it is. There is always going to life after cricket so I’m just trying to adapt to normality,” Gayle said, as quoted by mirror.co.uk.

Chris Gayle, Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers and KL Rahul made the most dangerous quartet in IPL 2016. They played for the Royal Challengers Bangalore. In 2021, the West Indies star player for the Punjab Kings. He played 10 matches that year, scoring 193 runs at a strike rate of 125.32. In 2020, he had 288 runs in seven games. 

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Gayle, however, said that he will be available for IPL 2023. 

“Next year I’m coming back, they need me! I’ve represented three teams in the IPL, Kolkata, RCB, and Punjab. Between RCB and Punjab, I would love to get a title, with one of those two teams. I had a great stint with RCB where I was more successful within the IPL, and Punjab, they’ve been good. I love to explore and I love challenges so let’s see what happens,” he said.