MiWay T20 Challenge
Gayle heaps praise on Levi
2012-02-21 14:17
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Johannesburg - Chris Gayle, on Tuesday, heaped praise on Richard Levi after the
latter’s record-breaking twenty20 (T20) century against New Zealand
saying that the young South African was capable of going from ‘strength
to strength’.
Levi smashed his way to a 45-ball century against the Black Caps on
Sunday, the fastest ton in international T20 cricket, beating the
previous record of 50 deliveries held by Gayle while Levi’s innings of
117 not out equalled the highest score in T20 international cricket, a
record also held by Gayle.
Gayle, arguably the world’s premier T20 batsman, said that, although he
had not seen Levi’s innings live he had caught the highlights and he had
been impressed by what he had seen.
“He’s a good striker of the cricket ball and it’s good for the game,” Gayle told a news conference in Durban
“Hopefully he can go from strength to strength and have bigger and
better innings in the future. He will have a lot on his shoulders now.
The expectations on him will be high and hopefully it is something he
can grasp quickly and I’m sure he will continue to excel,” he added.
Levi was a relatively unknown quality on the international scene before
his destructive innings against New Zealand but, after striking a
world-record 13 sixes during his innings, his star has risen to such an
extent that Indian Premier League (IPL) teams are falling over
themselves to sign the 24-year-old batsman.
Gayle did sound a note of caution about Levi’s continued prospects on
the international scene saying that the South African would have to
continue working to improve his game as bowler’s from around the world
learnt about his strengths and weaknesses.
“I’ve been there, you might score a lot of runs on the international
scene as a youngster but there is a lot of technology involved now and
it’s going to get harder, it’s going to get tougher so, as an
individual, you have got to learn how to manipulate bowlers. They are
working you out so you have to try and be a step ahead of them,” he
explained.