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Published 21:03 IST, June 24th 2020

'Going to be difficult': Darren Sammy on finding Chris Gayle's replacement in CPL 2020

Two-time T20 World Cup-winning skipper Darren Sammy has said that it will be difficult to find a replacement for Chris Gayle in CPL 2020

Reported by: Karthik Nair
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Darren Sammy has come forward and said that Chris Gayle will be hard to replace in the 2020 edition of the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) after the destructive opener had backed out from this year's tournament. As per reports, the Windies power-hitter has pulled his name out of the West Indian franchise T20 cricket citing personal reasons. The news comes one day before the draft is scheduled to take place on Wednesday i.e. June 24.

'Going to be difficult': Darren Sammy

“It’s always going to be difficult to replace a player of Chris Gayle’s calibre, especially the Zouks team, which was so excited to have Chris, who would have brought his experience and match-winning abilities,” said Sammy while speaking to The Gleaner.

“The show still has to go on and, hopefully, we can find someone who can come in and have an impact for us,” the two-time T20 World Cup-winning skipper added.

READ: West Indian Power-hitter Chris Gayle Backs Out Of CPL 2020 Due To Personal Reasons

Chris Gayle backs out of CPL 2020 

As per reports in ESPNCricinfo, the West Indian megastar has communicated regarding the same to St Lucia Zouks (the team that he was going to represent this season) on Monday. The destructive opening batsman was roped in by Zouks after he was released by his previous franchise Jamaica Tallawahs as he could not make his bat do the talking in the 2019 edition. He only managed to score 243 runs in 10 games. 

The 2020 edition of the CPL is scheduled to be held from 18 August to 10 September 2020. All the matches will be played in Trinidad after a special request was made in June 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The matches were originally scheduled to be held in six countries i.e. Trinidad and Tobago, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Guyana, Barbados, Jamaica, and St.Lucia respectively.

Even though the 'Universe Boss' has backed out from this year's CPL, he was all set to represent the 2014 finalists Kings XI Punjab in IPL 2020 that was originally scheduled to get underway on March 29 but has been suspended indefinitely as of now due to coronavirus pandemic. 

READ: Shoaib Akhtar So Lethal That He Threatened To 'kill' Me In 2005 Test: Liam Plunkett

21:02 IST, June 24th 2020