Christopher Henry Gayle OD (born 21 September 1979) is a Jamaican cricketer who has played international cricket for the West Indies from 1999 to 2021. Nicknamed "The Universe Boss", Gayle is widely regarded as the greatest batsman ever to have played Twenty20 cricket. He played a crucial role in the West Indies teams that won the 2004 ICC Champions Trophy, 2012 ICC World Twenty20 and 2016 ICC World Twenty20.
He has set numerous records across all three formats of the game. He is the most capped player for the West Indies in international cricket and is the only player to score a triplet of centuries – a triple hundred in Tests, double hundred in ODIs and a hundred in T20Is. Gayle is the only player to score more than 14,000 runs and hit more than 1,000 sixes in T20 cricket He is also the leading run scorer for West Indies in both ODIs and T20Is and along with Brian Lara the only player to score more than 10,000 runs for West Indies in ODI Cricket. Gayle was the first West Indian batsman to score a double-century in ODI cricket and subsequently in the history of World Cup cricket, where he scored an innings of 215 against Zimbabwe. His innings of 215 is currently the highest individual score by a left-handed batsman in ODI cricket. Along with the ODI record, he has the highest individual score in the T20 World Cup as a West Indian with his 117 runs against South Africa. Moreover, in the ICC Champions Trophy, he has the highest score made by a West Indian with his innings of 133 not out against South Africa in the 2006 tournament. In addition to his batting, He has picked up over 200 International Wickets with his Right-arm off-break spin bowling. He was awarded the Most Valuable Player in the 2011 Indian Premier League and held the Orange Cap in 2012. On 23 April 2013, He broke the record for the fastest ever T20 hundred in his landmark knock of 175 runs from 66 balls for Royal Challengers Bangalore against Pune Warriors India in the IPL, which is also the highest score ever by a batsman in T20 history. He also equaled the record for the fastest 50 in T20 cricket while playing for Melbourne Renegades in the Big Bash League.