“I Was Disrespected and Treated Like a Kid at Punjab Kings” – Chris Gayle Reveals Reason for Walking Out of IPL 2021

Chris Gayle, the former West Indies opener who calls himself the ‘Universe Boss,’ is known for his fun and happy nature. He always has a big smile on his face. Gayle has played for many T20 teams all over the world and is called a T20 legend. He was also very scary for bowlers in the Indian Premier League (IPL).

But his time in the IPL ended suddenly with Punjab Kings (PBKS) in 2021. Back then, he said he left because he was tired of the bio-bubble. Now, he has said that the team did not treat him well. He also shared that he felt very low and sad during his time with PBKS.

In 2020, two years after his last coaching job, Kumble became the head coach and director of cricket for Punjab Kings. He stayed in that role until 2022. Around that time, Chris Gayle also had issues with Kumble. Just like with Kohli earlier, the problem was that Kumble was seen as being too strict and controlling.

“My IPL ended prematurely with Punjab. To be honest, I was disrespected at Kings XI Punjab (now Punjab Kings). I felt I wasn’t treated properly as a senior player who had done so much for the league and brought value to the franchise. Instead, they treated me like a kid. For the first time in my life, I felt like I was slipping into depression,” Gayle said on Shubhankar Mishra’s podcast.

Gayle’s last IPL match came against Mumbai Indians (MI) at Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi on September 28. He batted at number 3, which was unusual for him since he mostly opened in T20s and managed just 1 run from 4 balls before getting out to Kieron Pollard. After that game, Gayle felt there was no reason to keep playing in the IPL, especially with the T20 World Cup 2021 coming up. So, he picked up the phone and called then-PBKS head coach Anil Kumble to let him know about his decision.

“Your mental health is more important than money. I called Anil (Kumble) and told him I was leaving. At the time, we had the World Cup and were stuck in a bubble, which was destroying me mentally. After my last game against Mumbai, I thought, ‘This doesn’t make sense. I’ll do myself more damage by staying.’

Gayle also shared that he broke down while speaking to Kumble about his decision. Later, he received a call from then-captain KL Rahul, but by that time, his mind was already made up.

“So I called him and had a one-on-one talk with him, you know, actually broke down as well, literally a breakdown when I was talking to him because I was really hurt. Oh yeah, I cried and I was disappointed with Anil and how the entire thing was actually run, the franchise was actually run at that time, and I said, ‘Listen man, thank you.’ KL Rahul was the captain; he called me and said, ‘Yo Chris, you know, you want to stay, you’ll play the next game.’ And I said, ‘Listen to me, man, I wish you guys all the very best.’ I just packed my bag and I walked out,” Gayle said.

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