Chris Gayle challenges Usain Bolt in 100m sprint in response to Jamaican sprint legend getting his wicket – Firstpost

West Indian batting legend Chris Gayle on Thursday issued a “warning” to Usain Bolt, challenging the Jamaican sprint icon to a 100-metre race in response to the latter securing his wicket in a friendly match.

Gayle, aka ‘The Universe Boss’, jokingly threw down the challenge to the eight-time Olympic gold medalist, widely considered the greatest sprinter of all time, while recalling an incident in which Bolt fired him after catching him off guard with a bouncer.

“To this day, he is still afraid of me. He doesn’t want to see me on a 100m track.

“Of course, I’m a sprinter. All Usain Bolt will see is a lot of dust and the Boss of the Universe just keeps going,” Gayle said in a video shared by ICC in the build-up to this T20 World Cup. year, which will be jointly organized by the ICC. West Indies and USA.

I’m just going to leave this here for the fans to decide @henrygayle 🤫 pic.twitter.com/IhDx5XDVkj

– Usain St. Léo Bolt (@usainbolt) April 24, 2024

Bolt, who was named ICC ambassador for the T20 World Cup, responded with a cheeky comment.

“We all know Chris can’t run. We have seen it. We know Chris doesn’t do quick singles or anything. We’re not worried about Chris,” Bolt said.

To which Gayle replied: “That’s a big lie. I do a lot of them, twos, threes, etc.… sometimes even fours. So Bolt, get your running spikes ready. And if you want to bring another athlete, you know, Yohan Blake, Asafa Powell, anyone. Someone will come fourth. And it’s not me!

Get ready for speed, thrills and excitement on and off the field ⚡

Usain Bolt joins as ICC Men’s Ambassador #T20World Cup 2024 🤩https://t.co/MOlH8H8kkX

– ICC (@ICC) April 24, 2024

Bolt had grown up playing cricket in his early years and even had a desire to become a professional cricketer before turning to athletics as a career option, where he would forge a legendary career that included setting the record of the fastest 100m – in 9.58 seconds during the 2009 World Championships.

In a charity match in Jamaica in 2009 which also included his compatriot Gayle, he not only took the explosive opener by surprise with a short delivery, but also managed to respond to a series of boundaries by inducing a inside edge on the stumps to get the wicket of the batter who gave endless nightmares to some of the world’s best bowlers in his prime.

“After the bouncer I said to myself, this is a nice game. What am I doing? So I start crushing it. Hit him for a six or two and probably a few fours. Then finally I get an inside edge on the off stump,” Gayle recounted.