SHARJAH: Kings XI Punjab's (KXIP) Chris Gayle said his retirement is not coming anytime soon after teammate Mandeep Singh told him to never retire.
KXIP defeated Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) by eight wickets in the Indian Premier League (IPL) here on Monday. After the match, iplt20.com posted a video of Gayle interviewing Singh.
During the conversation, Singh told Gayle that he should never retire. In reply, the 41-year-old said "cancel retirement" and added that "no retirement coming anytime soon".
This was KXIP's fifth straight win in the tournament and the team has now claimed the fourth spot on the points table. Singh and Gayle scored 66* and 51 runs respectively to help KXIP chase down the target of 150 runs, set by KKR.
Singh's father had passed away on Friday. Singh said his father used to tell him that he should remain not out in every game.
"My father always used to tell me that you should remain not out in every game and that is what I wanted to do today. Before the game, I spoke to Rahul, telling him that let me play my game and even if I take a few balls initially, I can win games for the team. I think my father would be really happy today that I finished the game and remained not out," Singh said.
During the post-match press conference, Singh had said that Gayle is "probably the greatest T20 player ever".
"He (Gayle) should never retire. He is always in great touch. I have never seen him struggle. He is probably the greatest T20 player ever," Singh had said.