West Indies' Chris Gayle celebrates after completing his century during the match against Bangladesh in the ICC Champions Trophy qualifying tournament in Jaipur on Wednesday. - Reuters

JAIPUR, India (AP)

WEST INDIES opening batsman Chris Gayle doesn't take his bowling in the limited-overs cricket too seriously.

But when it comes to performing with the bat, the hard-hitting 27-year-old Jamaican left-hander wants the opposition to work hard to get his wicket.

The swashbuckling Gayle has made an early impression in qualifying for the ICC Champions Trophy, with the scores of 41 against Zimbabwe and an unbeaten 104 off 118 balls against Ban-gladesh in the West Indies' two matches.

And despite claiming three wickets for three runs with his off-spin bowling to help the West Indies skittle Zimbabwe for 85 in the first qualifier, Gayle is at pains to play down his bowling.

Main objective

"To be honest I don't concentrate on my bowling," he said. "My main objective is batting. I don't really do a lot of work on my bowling, but whenever the captain asks me, I'm capable enough with the ball.

"Hopefully I can carry on and keep the good work against Sri Lanka," said Gayle, who scored his 13th limited-overs century against Bangladesh on Wednesday.

He predicted the slow Indian wickets would see some big scores during the Champions Trophy, but would also suit the spinners.

"Wickets in India are good for batting, but I think the spinners can create a lot of chances as well," Gayle said.

Gayle has an impressive limited-overs record, scoring 5,247 runs in 145 limited-overs games and has also taken 122 wickets.