Quote:Gayle was at his zenith during the 2011-2013 seasons. Easily the IPL’s most dominant batsman in that period, he finished at the top of the run-scoring list in 2011 and 2012 before slipping to second in 2013. His totals were 608, 733 and 708 runs respectively and his lowest average in those three seasons was 59.
Having not reached those heights since, and with him spluttering along the way he has done these past two seasons, there is one inevitable question that arises: Will Chris Gayle ever return to his routine best, or are we witnessing the steady decline of his outsized powers?
The batsman is now 37, an age at which a dip in form, especially a prolonged one, is often viewed as terminal. And while some have been known to carry on well past that age, we all are different and so age at different rates.
In the end, however, time overpowers all athletes, regardless of how great they are and regardless of how strenuously they struggle against the creeping corrosion that advanced age brings. Past a certain point, age comes accompanied by regression. Reaction time slows; eyesight becomes less acute; fast-twitch muscle fibres decrease. The body becomes less effective at transporting oxygen, leading to less aerobic capacity, and the body takes more time to recover from exertion.