Disappointed to end without making it to final four, says Chris Gayle

West Indies Chris Gayle gestures at the end of play during the 2019 Cricket World Cup group stage match between Afghanistan and West Indies at Headingley in Leeds, northern England, on July 4, 2019. - West Indies beat Afghanistan by 23 runs. (Photo by / A

Universal Boss Chris Gayle bid farewell to World Cup cricket by playing his last match of the tournament against Afghanistan on Thursday. He said that he felt disappointed that West Indies were not able to make the semifinals of the tournament.

"It-s been a privilege and honour to represent West Indies in five World Cups, disappointed to end without making it to the final four. Lot has happened behind the scenes to get here and be here, that-s fantastic," Gayle said after their last match against Afghanistan ended in a 23-run win.

West Indies were actually pegged as one of the favourites for the semi-finals of the World Cup befor the tournament started, but ended up with a consolation win against Afghanistan to end the series.

"Would-ve loved to lift the trophy, but it didn-t happen but at the same time it was fun, enjoyed it. All the guys rallied around me, got the support of the youngsters. Must commend the staff for the work ethics they-ve put in. Words can-t explain my feeling at the moment honestly," the 39-year-old veteran said.

Last week, Chris Gayle had indicated that he could retire from international cricket after the series against India next month.

"We have a great bunch, it-s for them to uplift West Indies cricket. I-ll be around, I may be around for a few more games, will be there for the youngsters. World Cup wasn-t to be but life does go on.
"It is my last World Cup....unless they give me two years of rest and I come back laughs. I don-t intend to put my body on the risk, I-ve been struggling. This is the last one, definitely."

Before the match started, Chris Gayle needed a mere 18 runs to go past Brian Lara and become the highest run-scorer for West Indies in ODI cricket, but Gayle got out for 7 runs.

He added, "The future looks bright, with Hetmyer, Hope, Pooran - those guys will carry the flag and make sure West Indies cricket is back to where it belongs. They have a young captain in Jason Holder as well, they have to rally around. Look forward to the next World Cup as well."

Asked about his plans ahead, Gayle said, "To play the T20Is and ODIs against India, the CPL and the Canadian T20. That-s that. We-ll see after that what happens."

Here is how cricket fans reacted on Twitter reacted to Chris Gayle-s final outing at World Cups:

With inputs from PTI

Catch up on all the latest sports news and updates here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates