Chris Gayle
will not arrive in South Africa on Friday, as initially scheduled, to
play in the domestic 20-over competition after sustaining a groin injury
in the Bangladesh Premier League [BPL]. Gayle retired hurt
after scoring 30 off 16 balls for Barisal Burners against Chittagong
Kings in Dhaka and was found to have damaged a muscle in his groin.
"He [Gayle] is going to be assessed by their medical team and they will
advise us accordingly," Jesse Chellan, chief executive of the Dolphins,
said. The delay means Gayle will miss the start of Dolphins' T20
campaign. Their first match is against new franchise, Impi, on Sunday.
It was reported that Gayle may need up to three weeks to recover from
his injury and could miss nearly half of the T20 tournament, which ends
on March 30.
Gayle was in explosive form in the BPL, with two centuries in four
previous games. He is the second of Dolphins' two overseas signings to
suffer injury in the lead up to the tournament. Australia fast bowler
Shaun Tait had to withdraw
from the event when he sustained an elbow injury and the Dolphins were
unable to sign a replacement player in time for the competition.
South African franchises were allowed to contract two overseas players
for the event in an attempt to bring the competition in line with other
20-over tournaments around the world. Gayle was the biggest draw of the
competition after Shahid Afridi became unavailable
due to national commitments and a decision was taken by the Lions side
not to pursue the engagement with Abdul Razzaq as a result of his poor
recent form.
Currently, there are six internationals in the country, including former
England captain Paul Collingwood, who leads Impi. Sohail Tanvir and
Brad Hogg are due to arrive by the end of the month to represent Lions
and Cobras respectively, as well as two other yet to be contracted players who will represent Impi.
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