Picture Credit: X/ICC
Usain Bolt, the fastest sprinter in the world, recently joined his association with cricket, boasting his fervent passion for the sport. The Jamaican sprinter recently was entitled as the official ambassador of the T20 World Cup 2024, set to be jointly hosted in the USA and West Indies in June, this year.
The former West Indies international Chris Gayle, who is fondly called as the ‘Universe Boss’ in a video going viral invited the Olympic gold medallist for a sprint race. In a video shared by the International Cricket Council (ICC), Bolt found himself facing a fun challenge from the hard-hitter - a 100m race.
“Till this day, he’s still afraid of me. Doesn’t want to see me on a 100m track,” Gayle said as the two got into a fun banter. “Of course I’m a sprinter. All Usain Bolt will be seeing is a lot of dust and the Universe Boss just going down the stretch,” he further added, building in the excitement.
After being invited for a track challenge, the king of sprint race was quick to drop a big statement, where he said, “We all know Chris Gayle can’t run. We have seen him. We know Chris doesn’t do quick single or anything. We’re not worried about Chris.” Here, the 44-year-old called it a “big lie” as he dropped a playful smirk. “That’s a big lie. I run a lot of ones, twos, threes, you name it…. sometimes even fours. So Bolt, get your running pikes ready. And if you want to bring any other athlete along, you know, Yohan Blake, Asafa Powell, anybody. Somebody gonna come fourth. And it’s not me!” Gayle replied.
Watch Chris Gayle and Usain Bolt’s hilarious banter:
Chris Gayle recalls his wicket from charity match
The two greats of their respective events also reflected on their past experience from the cricket field. While reminiscing the memorable moment when Bolt got a wicket of Gayle in a friendly match, the 44-year-old cricketer said, “After the bouncer I said to myself, it’s a fun game. What am I doing? So I start smashing him. Hit him for one or two sixes and probably for a few fours. Then, eventually, I get an inside edge onto the stumps.”
The ninth edition of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup will be played from June 2 (IST) till June 29 (IST) in the USA and the West Indies. The final will be played at the Kensington Oval in Barbados on June 29.