Legendary West Indies cricketer, Chris Gayle, recently opened up about his decision to opt out of the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022, claiming that he wasn’t treated properly and did not get the respect he deserved.

Gayle has played for three franchises in the IPL, including Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and Punjab Kings (PBKS). Despite being one of the most sought after players in the tournament, Gayle did not enter the IPL 2022 mega auction. “For the last couple of years, the way the IPL went about, I felt like I wasn’t treated properly,” the cricketer, who is the seventh-highest run-scorer of all time in the history of IPL, was quoted as saying.

“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 be life after cricket so I’m just trying to adapt to normality,” Gayle added.

However, the star batsman did not completely rule out a comeback to the league in the next season. “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 further mentioned.