Chris Gayle, The Greatest T20 Player In The World, Not Part Of 'The 100' Draft

After the excitement of Twenty20 cricket and the global leagues, it is now time for The 100. 100-ball cricket is a form of limited overs cricket, played by two teams each playing a single innings made up of 100 balls. The format of the game is 100 balls per innings, a change of ends after 10 balls, bowlers delivering either five or 10 consecutive balls and with each bowler bowling a maximum of 20 balls per game. The teams in The 100 tournament are Birmingham Phoenix, London Spirit, Manchester Originals, Northern Superchargers, Oval Invincibles, Southern Brave, Trent Rockets, Welsh Fire. With the format of The 100, the tournament would have benefited with the presence of Chris Gayle, the greatest Twenty20 player in history.

However, to everyone's surprise, Gayle was left out of the draft of The 100 tournament. With players not eligible to be selected if they failed to make their allotted price point, the 37-year-old will be absent from the competition. Sri Lanka fast bowler Lasith Malinga and South African paceman Kagiso Rabada were also unpicked. The majority of England's one-day international players had already been allocated to teams before the draft. 

Afghanistan star Rashid Khan became the first player selected in The Hundred draft, with the 21-year-old spinner was made the first overall pick by the Trent Rockets. West Indies all-rounder Andre Russell went next to the Southern Brave, with Australia batsman Aaron Finch third to the Leeds-based Northern Superchargers as the first-round picks came thick and fast.The Welsh Fire selected Australia duo Mitchell Starc and Steve Smith, with the Invincibles adding West Indies spinner Sunil Narine to the pre-selected Jason Roy. The Manchester Originals pair South Africa spinner Imran Tahir with Dane Vilas, already a successful T20 Blast overseas player for Lancashire.

Also Read | This Batsman Scores T20 Ton - But Does Not Realise It Due To An ERROR

All-rounders Glenn Maxwell (London Spirit) and Liam Livingstone (Birmingham Phoenix) completed the first selections, accompanying 'icon' picks Eoin Morgan and Moeen Ali respectively. New Zealand captain Kane Williamson was the highest-profile name taken in round two, heading to Birmingham, while the Spirit paired Afghanistan's Mohammad Nabi and Pakistan paceman Mohammad Amir. Round three started with two overseas picks, Australia bowler Nathan Coulter-Nile to the Rockets and Pakistan's Shadab Khan to the Brave. 

RELATED