'Universe Boss' Gayle plans retirement after home series against India in August
Manchester, Jun 26: Dashing West Indies batsman Chris Gayle will retire from international cricket after the home ODI and Test series against India scheduled in August-September, revising his earlier plan to call it quits after the ongoing World Cup.
Among the high profile players in the last two decades, Gayle will follow the in footsteps of Steve Waugh (2004) and Jacques Kallis (2013), who announced their international retirement after playing against India.
It is expected that Gayle will play his final international game, a Test against India, at his home ground Kingston in Jamaica starting August 30.
The 39-year-old had last month stated that he would retire after the World Cup but speaking to the media on the eve of the game against India here, the left-hander said he has had a change of mind.
"It's still not the end. I still have a few games to go. May be another series to go, as well. Who knows, we will see what happens," Gayle said when asked about his career which was supposed to end after the World Cup.
When he was asked a specific questions on his plans post World Cup, he did spill the beans.
"My plans after World Cup? I may play a Test match against India and then I will definitely play the ODIs against India. I won't play the T20s for sure. That's my plan after the World Cup," Gayle said.
West Indies media manager Philip Spooner later confirmed that the assignment against India will be Gayle's last in national colours.
"Yes, Chris will play his last series against India," Spooner told PTI.
It has been learnt that Gayle's participation in the India series was necessary keeping the commercial aspects in mind as it is scheduled right after the World Cup.
Also a Test match in Jamaica and good friend and former IPL teammate Virat Kohli in the opposition ranks will be seen as a fitting farewell for cricket's greatest modern day entertainers.
India's tour of West Indies comprises three T20 Internationals, three ODIs followed by a couple of Test matches.
There will be two T20 games in Florida on August 3 and 4, followed by a third in Guyana.
The three-match ODI will start in Guyana from August 8, followed by a couple of games in Trinidad. The Tests will take place from August 22 to September 3.
Gayle has appeared in 103 Tests, accumulating 7215 runs at an average of 42.19. In 294 ODI appearances, Gayle put together 10345 runs, while in 58 T20 Internationals, he has 1627 runs.
He has two triple hundreds in Test matches, a double hundred in ODIs and also has the distinction of scoring the first hundred in a World T20 game.
The man who calls himself the 'Universe Boss' is a fan favourite for his flamboyant stroke-play and is considered a game-changing batsman.
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Israel launches first airstrike on Lebanon since ceasefire, accusing Hezbollah of breaching truce
Beirut, Nov 28: The Israeli military on Thursday said its warplanes fired on southern Lebanon after detecting Hezbollah activity at a rocket storage facility, the first Israeli airstrike a day after a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah took hold.
There was no immediate word on casualties from Israel's aerial attack, which came hours after the Israeli military said it fired on people trying to return to certain areas in southern Lebanon. Israel said they were violating the ceasefire agreement, without providing details. Lebanon's state-run National News Agency said two people were wounded.
The back-to-back incidents stirred unease about the agreement, brokered by the United States and France, which includes an initial two-month ceasefire in which Hezbollah members are to withdraw north of the Litani River and Israeli forces are to return to their side of the border. The buffer zone would be patrolled by Lebanese troops and UN peacekeepers.
On Thursday, the second day of a ceasefire after more than a year of bloody conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, Lebanon's state news agency reported that Israeli fire targeted civilians in Markaba, close to the border, without providing further details. Israel said it fired artillery in three other locations near the border. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
An Associated Press reporter in northern Israel near the border heard Israeli drones buzzing overhead and the sound of artillery strikes from the Lebanese side.
The Israeli military said in a statement that “several suspects were identified arriving with vehicles to a number of areas in southern Lebanon, breaching the conditions of the ceasefire.” It said troops “opened fire toward them” and would “actively enforce violations of the ceasefire agreement.”
Israeli officials have said forces will be withdrawn gradually as it ensures that the agreement is being enforced. Israel has warned people not to return to areas where troops are deployed, and says it reserves the right to strike Hezbollah if it violates the terms of the truce.
A Lebanese military official said Lebanese troops would gradually deploy in the south as Israeli troops withdraw. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief media.
The ceasefire agreement announced late Tuesday ended 14 months of conflict between Israel and Hezbollah that began a day after Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023 attack out of Gaza, when the Lebanese Hezbollah group began firing rockets, drones and missiles in solidarity.
Israel retaliated with airstrikes, and the conflict steadily intensified for nearly a year before boiling over into all-out war in mid-September. The war in Gaza is still raging with no end in sight.
More than 3,760 people were killed by Israeli fire in Lebanon during the conflict, many of them civilians, according to Lebanese health officials. The fighting killed more than 70 people in Israel — over half of them civilians — as well as dozens of Israeli soldiers fighting in southern Lebanon.
Some 1.2 million people were displaced in Lebanon, and thousands began streaming back to their homes on Wednesday despite warnings from the Lebanese military and the Israeli army to stay out of certain areas. Some 50,000 people were displaced on the Israeli side, but few have returned and the communities near the northern border are still largely deserted.
In Menara, an Israeli community on the border with views into Lebanon, around three quarters of homes are damaged, some with collapsed roofs and burnt-out interiors. A few residents could be seen gathering their belongings on Thursday before leaving again.
