Gayle hit plenty of sixes during the World Twenty20

West Indies flamboyant opening batsman Chris Gayle has revealed that “proper balance” is the key to hitting sixes in any format of the game.

Gayle has been unstoppable throughout the International Cricket Council (ICC) World Twenty20, smashing sixes at will from both pace and spin bowlers.

“The key thing is balance. You have to have good balance to be able to hit a lot of sixes. I put special emphasis, on my balance. You have to realise that bowlers aren’t always going to make it easy for you. You have to create the shots, so you have to make sure you do it well. So you have to be mentally prepared as well,” Gayle said.

When asked how he was able to top the six-hitting charts during the Indian Premier League (IPL), Australia’s Big Bash League and the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL), Gayle said: “Bit of strength work to be honest and once the ball is in your slot you go for it. I am sure everyone can hit a six these days. It doesn’t seem so hard these days with everybody getting big bats. Clearing the boundary is easy. So it’s one of those things — you try and get a start and once you are set… you can take advantage of the conditions once you get accustomed to all the bowlers.”

Talking to reporters before the World Twenty20 final against Sri Lanka, Gayle noted that his team had all of the components to pull off a win against the hosts.

“Look at our team — we can bat right down. Bowling-wise, we have spinners and fast bowlers. The key for us now is to get to the second round. And try and take it step by step. You don’t want to wait around for too long before you play a game. You want to get in it and make the best use of conditions. Sometimes you have to wait around for a week and that can get quite difficult. Try and get in the right frame of mind. The first game is vital. You don’t want to play catch-up cricket in T20, so it’s a very big match for us. It will also get our confidence going,” he added.