Chris Gayle signed up by KXIP-owned St Lucia Zouks for CPL 2020, Darren Sammy welcomes him

In February 2020, the Kings XI Punjab management became the second IPL team to venture into widening the team's brand and forming a Caribbean Premier League team. The owners of KXIP, KPH Dream Cricket Private Limited, bought the St. Lucia Zouks franchise, which has had it the West Indies' 2-time T20 World Cup winning captain, Darren Sammy as its captain earlier too. It has now been revealed that the 'Universe Boss' Chris Gayle will be joining the team.

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'Kings XI St. Lucia' incoming? Chris Gayle joins hands with his KXIP owners again

Just like the Trinbago Knight Riders team, the Kings XI Punjab management is now making sure that it expands properly into the new market of the CPL and has familiar faces to deal with. Recently, the team confirmed that Darren Sammy had been retained by the Zouks and would captain the team in the upcoming season as well. Darren Sammy had been a part of the Kings XI Punjab in IPL 2017.

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It was also revealed that Zimbabwean legend Andy Flower had been appointed as the head coach of the St. Lucia Zouks. Earlier this year, the KXIP also appointed Flower as the assistant coach so it is pretty evident that the owners are trying to create a wider brand with the personnel they has already employed.

The newest move in this direction is that global T20 superstar and Kings XI Punjab opener, Chris Gayle, has been picked up by the St. Lucia Zouks and will now be reuniting with his KXIP owner Preity Zinta in CPL 2020, as per a ESPNcricinfo report. Gayle had been released after a long association with RCB before the IPL 2018 and had no takers at the auctions until Preity Zinta and the other KXIP owners showed faith in him. In the two seasons that followed, Chris Gayle regained his phenomenal form and was effective for the team at the top of the order.

ALSO READ | Chris Gayle takes SRH to the cleaners with 104* for KXIP in IPL 2018; watch video

Darren Sammy welcomes Chris Gayle to his new team

The St. Lucia Zouks captain Darren Sammy made a video message that was uploaded on the Zouks' social media platforms. Sammy looked positive about Gayle's addition to the team and claimed that Gayle will blow all of his doubters away in the CPL 2020. Gayle has played for the Jamaica Tallawahs and the St Kitts and Nevis Patriots. He is the world's No.1 T20 batsman and has scored 2,255 runs in the CPL, including four centuries.

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