Gayle expected to be fit for Renegades opener

Melbourne Renegades’ superstar signing Chris Gayle is expected to be fine for the beginning of the KFC Big Bash League season despite upcoming back surgery.

Gayle revealed last week he will be going under the knife in early August, following a charity match on the second that he is committed to playing, and said he would return to playing “maybe in December”.

That news immediately concerned Renegades fans, with the Melbourne-based franchise set to take on Brisbane Heat on December 19 at the Gabba.

Quick Single: BBL|05 fixture

However Gayle’s management have confirmed the big-hitting left-hander is in fact targeting an October return to training, provided everything goes as expected with surgery and his recovery.

Gayle revealed news of the surgery after the Jamaica Tallawahs were eliminated from the Caribbean Premier League Twenty20 competition following a defeat to the Trinidad & Tobago Red Steel in the first semi-final.

Gayle returns to the Big Bash

The 35-year-old hasn’t played a Test match in 10 months but is renowned as a devastating Twenty20 specialist, with his signature representing a major coup for the Renegades, who are targeting a finals berth after a couple of lean BBL seasons.

"It's huge to sign Chris Gayle," said Renegades skipper Aaron Finch, who is set to form a devastating partnership with Gayle at the top of the order.

"He's someone who has dominated this format over a long period of time.

"Along with AB (de Villiers), there is not many of them in the same bracket. He's the world's best I think.

"He dominates a game, he can win a game by himself in very limited time.

"To have signed someone like him to open the batting with is going to be a huge bonus for the Renegades but also the fans who are going to get to see cricket's biggest hitter at Etihad stadium."

Gayle has long suffered with back issues – he missed a group stage game during this year’s World Cup and had a pain-killing injection to play the quarter-final against New Zealand, before also withdrawing himself from several Indian Premier League fixtures with the ailment.

The problem doesn’t seem to have curbed his effectiveness however, with the enigmatic opener top scoring in this year’s IPL with 491 runs at 40.91 for Royal Challengers Bangalore this year, with a top score of 117. He was also the tournament's top six-hitter with 38 blows clearing the fence.

He then hit an unbeaten 151 for Somerset in England's domestic T20 competition and finished with 328 runs from three matches, hitting 29 sixes.

And he is the CPL's leading run-scorer with 430 – more than 60 ahead of his nearest rival – with the tournament's top two scores of 105 and an unbeaten 90, and 33 sixes in 10 matches.

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