Ready to take on Indian challenge, says Chris Gayle

Mumbai: Chris Gayle will be the key wicket for India in their World Twenty20 semi-final and the big man knows India captain M.S. Dhoni will have plans to counter him. Dhoni has tried Ravichandran Ashwin upfront many times successfully but Gayle said he was ready to tackle anything thrown at him by ‘unpredictable captain’ Dhoni.

“It is no surprise. That always happens. Dhoni always puts Ashwin up early but Dhoni is an unpredictable captain. I will be prepared and mentally ready for whichever particular bowler I have to focus on. Chris Gayle will always be positive and looking to attack,” he said before a West Indies practice session at Brabourne Stadium here on Tuesday.

The talismanic Jamaican scored a 47-ball hundred here in the opening game against England, did not bat in the next two innings and got out early against South Africa. “It is good to always get runs especially in the first game. You don’t want to play catch-up cricket. I haven’t really got a full knock in all four games. But this is a perfect opportunity again, where I actually started the tournament,” he said.

Gayle praised his IPL franchise Royal Challengers Bangalore teammate Virat Kohli and hoped he would not fire on Thursday. “No surprise there. I have said it over the years he is going to be the world-beater he is today. Hopefully he won’t get any runs. We are not going to focus on only Virat, there are so many match-winners there and any one of them can actually fire on any particular day. “It is a huge team, their batting line-up is superb, but Virat is the man that stands out at this point of time,” he said.

Andre Fletcher who also played a match winning innings in Gayle’s absence against Sri Lanka has been ruled out with a hamstring injury sustained in the game against Afghanistan. Lendl Simmons will replace him in the squad.