The former West Indies cricketer and batting legend Chris Gayle has opened up on the harrowing times he went through at Punjab Kings during his journey with the franchise from 2018 to 2021. Gayle, during his time with the franchise, played a total of 41 games, amassing 1,304 runs, including one century and 11 fifties. Opening up about the tough times, Gayle said he was disrespected, which led to his alliance with the franchise ending abruptly.

"My IPL ended prematurely with Punjab, to be honest with you. Yeah, I mean absolutely. I mean, I was disrespected in the franchise, Punjab Kings XI. You know, I felt like I wasn’t being treated properly for a senior guy done so much for the league, you know, bring so much value to the franchise as well. And then you’re being disrespected, and they treat you like a kid, you know, and then pretty much I’m just like I felt like the building was on my shoulder. That’s the first time in my life I ever felt like a depression mode. So when people speak about depression, I can get a little sense of that and it wasn’t for me," Gayle said in a podcast with Shubhankar Mishra.

Gayle also revealed he had a chat with Anil Kumble before departing the franchise.

“So I called him and had a one-on-one talk to him, you know, actually breakdown as well, literally a breakdown when I was talking to him because I was really hurt. Oh yeah I cried and I was disappointed with Anil and how the entire thing was actually run, the franchise was actually run at that time and I said listen man thank you. KL Rahul was the captain, he called me and said, “Yo Chris, you know, you want to stay, you’ll play the next game.” And I said listen to me man I wish you guys all the very best. I just packed my bag and I walked out," he said.

Meanwhile, Chris Gayle capped off his IPL career with 4,965 runs, plundering six centuries and 31 half-centuries. His highest score in the IPL is 175*.