Why Chris Gayle is a larger-than-life filmi hero

One-man army

The phrase ‘one-man army’ is not new for Bollywood fans. There have been countless number of films where the ‘hero’ singlehandedly bashes up as many as 40-50 baddies. Such sequences instantly bring Sunny Deol’s name in our minds. Well, what Sunny does onscreen is exactly what Chris Gayle did on-field to England at the Wankhede at their World T20 encounter. By scoring 100 of the 183 runs, he was nothing short of a one-man army. In fact, the match turned out to be England v/s Chris Gayle.

Their greatest fear, opposition’s only hope

Throughout the innings, it felt as if nothing can stop Gayle from smashing the ball to all corners of the ground as he kept slamming one sixer after another. In other words, he turned out to be a nightmare for the English bowlers. However, apart from Gayle, no other West Indian batsman appeared comfortable at the crease. This is exactly how the baddies in a Hindi film perceive the hero as – Their greatest fear, opposition’s only hope.

Punarjanam-like Déjà vu

The chants of ‘Sachin… Sachin’ instantly start ringing in our minds as soon as we enter an Indian cricket stadium, especially Sachin Tendulkar’s home ground, Wankhede Stadium. The Master Blaster has delighted fellow Mumbaikars plenty of times. But with his retirement, it seemed that the stadium won’t experience the same buzz ever again. However, Gayle proved them wrong. Having personally experienced a number of Sachin’s innings at the Wankhede, the excitement was the same when the stylish left-hander was going great guns. This brings back those déjà vu sequences of our Hindi films, when someone experiences punarjanam.

Home away from home

For whatever reason, almost every Indian present at the Wankhede Stadium was supporting the West Indies. Looking at the support, the West Indian players, especially Gayle, must felt as if they are playing at Trinidad and Tabago or Jamaica. The crowd accepted him as if he always belonged here. This was similar to those Hindi films where a protagonist from a faraway land makes a special place in a family or a group of people in a short time. For example – Shah Rukh Khan in ‘Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge’ or Sanjay Dutt in ‘Khoobsurat’.

He had the last laugh

As per a Bollywood theory, every hero will have his share of detractors, but ultimately he will have the last laugh. The scenes were quite similar at the Wankhede Stadium. A group of England supporters didn’t mince their feelings of dislike towards the West Indies. They also rendered special sendoff songs for the departed West Indian batsmen, trying to mock them. But they didn’t know that all this is of no use until Gayle was at the crease. And he did stay there till the end, as if mouthing Shah Rukh Khan’s ‘Don 2’ dialogue – Jeetna meri zidd nahin meri aadat hai.