Renegades linked to T20 superstar Gayle

Amid reports Chris Gayle is set to return to the KFC T20 Big Bash League for the 2015-16 summer, Melbourne Renegades have confirmed with cricket.com.au they have some interest in the West Indian superstar.

Gayle, who has previously played in the BBL with Sydney Thunder, is one of the world’s leading limited-overs batsman and would represent a coup for the Renegades, while the 35-year-old’s pairing with captain Aaron Finch at the top of the order would be the competition’s most devastating opening combination.

“At the moment, we have two international spots on our roster that we need to fill,” Melbourne CEO Stuart Coventry told cricket.com.au.

“Chris is obviously a fantastic player – he’s an excitement machine and he’s the sort of character who the fans want to see strut his stuff.”

Gayle offered a timely reminder of his phenomenal hitting power this week, blazing 12 sixes in his 117 from 57 balls for Royal Challengers Bangalore against Kings XI Punjab, which included 20 runs from one Mitchell Johnson over.

It was the left-hander’s fifth IPL century – no-one else has more than two – while he also holds the record for the world’s highest T20 score – an astonishing 175 not out from just 66 deliveries made for RCB in April 2013.

Earlier this year, Gayle scored the first-ever double century at a World Cup – 215 from just 157 balls against Zimbabwe at Manuka Oval in Canberra.

News Ltd today reported the Thunder – where Gayle spent the first two seasons of the revamped BBL, scoring a century in the first – were not interested in re-signing the maverick Jamaican, with General Manager Nick Cummins saying the club was looking at “a much more balanced approach” in terms of distribution of salary cap funds when compared with those first two unsuccessful seasons.