‘I’m the greatest off-spinner in the world, Murali won't contest it, Narine not even close': West Indies' Chris Gayle

Chris Gayle will be 43 next month and although he has used the R-word multiple times he hasn't yet officially announced his retirement from any form of the game. The 'Universe Boss' as he is popularly known last played an international match for West Indies in the 2021 T20 World Cup. There has been no confirmation on his availability for this year's T20 World Cup in Australia in October-November but very few cricket fans across the glove would be surprised to see the left-hander walk out to open the batting wearing maroon in the world event.

Before that, the highest run scorer in T20 cricket is preparing for the '6ixty' - a new franchise 60-ball cricket tournament in the Caribbean Islands starting Wednesday. Gayle is one of the biggest faces in the tournament that will feature six men's teams and three women's teams.

Before that, Gayle, who is renowned to be one of the best-ever batters in the shortest format of the game, raved about his bowling skills, even going to the extent of terming himself as the best off-spinner in the world, albeit in jest. "You know what? My bowling is natural. Definitely, I have to bowl. I'm the greatest off-spinner of all time. Murali (Muttiah Muralitharan) won't contest that for sure. I have the best economy, not even Sunil Narine can come close to that," Gayle, who has 83 wickets in T20s, told ESPNCricinfo.

Gayle, who has 14562 runs (the most in the world by some distance) in T20 cricket, said he is very excited to return to the cricket field with a new format like the 6ixty. "I'm really excited to be back in the field. I missed it. I'm like a kid again, looking forward to the first game... For my debut. I'll have to get back in shape. I'm still in shape but just a li'll prep here and there to get in that mindset of playing cricket," he said.

When asked about the 60-ball tournament that has a lot of new innovations like the "Mystery Fan Ball” in which a batter can't get out, Gayle said the endeavour is to try and make the game more and more engaging for the viewers.

"Bowlers nowadays are creative. They've got a lot of variations and they make it challenging for the batters. Of course, the batting part is more dominant in shorter forms but the bowlers have a lot of skills to make it uncomfortable for the batter. It's gonna be interesting from the batters' point of view. Saint Kitts is a small ground, I'm expecting good pitches. It's gonna be exciting, there's gonna be a lot of chaos. It'll be up to us how we make it even more interesting for the fans out there," he added.