Christopher Henry Gayle (born 21 September 1979 in Kingston, Jamaica) is a Jamaican cricketer who was captain of the West Indies cricket team and plays domestic cricket for Jamaica. He is a hard-hitting left-handed opening batsman with a wide-range of shots, and bowls useful part-time right-arm off spin. Gayle is a successful One Day International player, with over 200 appearances for the west indies and 19 centuries. He is also a successful Test batsman, averaging just over 40.00. As a prominent one day player, Gayle was chosen by the Kolkata Knight Riders in the Indian Premier League. In the 2011 IPL he was chosen by Royal Challengers Bangalore as a replacement for Dirk Nannes.