Chris Gayle - The Test Batsman : Is he as effective?

Towering sixes landing on the roof of the stadium, this is the picture which comes to mind when we speak of Christopher Henry Gayle, who has taken power hitting to a different level altogether in the last few years. But, amidst all his IPL exploits and his splendid performances over the years in ODIs for the West Indies, Chris Gayle the test player has somewhere remained subdued. It’s hard to ignore him as a test batsman, after all he has got a couple of triple hundreds to his credit in tests, a feat matched only by 3 players in history; Bradman, Lara and Sehwag.
        The claim could be that he has not been as big a match winner in tests as he has been in ODIs or T20s. However, this can be countered by the argument that for most of his career, West Indies did not possess the best of bowlers and so despite his numerous invaluable innings in tests, they could not be converted into match winning ones as West Indies lacked the quality in their bowling to take twenty opposition wickets. However, this is just an argument. People can interpret his batsmanship in test cricket in their own ways but one thing we shouldn’t forget is that he still averages 42 and not many batsmen in the West Indians line up in the past 10 years have managed that and so the West Indies would take it any day. This is of course is apart from the other things that he brings to the plate like the lightning starts to an innings which he provides pretty frequently and the ability of scoring quick runs and putting the pressure back on the opposition bowlers. He has been an important cog in the process of evolution in test cricket in the last few years where a test innings is marked by the openers going all out for quick runs early on, bettered only by Virender Sehwag probably.
        Dissecting his test career, we could say that he has scored runs against all oppositions apart from India, against whom he averages a mere 30. That has a lot to do with his performance on Indian soil, where he has clearly struggled in test cricket, unlike many other left handers who have scored heavily in India over the years. And then there was this controversy revolving Chris Gayle, a couple years back with some ego clashes with the West Indian board but the bottom line is that West Indies cricket needs a talisman like Chris Gayle, especially in test cricket where the big man stands tall with one less than a century tests. In ODIs, if there’s no Gayleforce, WI can still use the power hitting of a Pollard, Smith or Russell but they need Gayle for his sheer experience and match winning ability in tests as this is the form of the game the West Indies are still struggling. In my opinion, the man who brought the Gangnam style into cricket has few more of years of test cricket left in him. Let us hope he mesmerizes us with his blitzkrieg performances and serves West Indies cricket in their transition phase, which promises a lot for the future.