Langer declared Marsh as good a player as the swashbuckling Windies superstar with his potential power-hitting at the shortest form of cricket.
Gayle is widely renowned as the most explosive batting star on world T20 circuits and Marsh has rebuilt his international standing after a belligerent Big Bash tournament with Perth Scorchers.
Marsh, 29, was recalled to the national side for two T20 games against Sri Lanka on Australia Day in Sydney and Melbourne on the Monday long weekend holiday.
The dumped Test top-order specialist stormed back into international T20 calculations as a star performer in Australia's Big Bash tournament over the past six weeks.
“I think he is batting as well as anyone in the world at the moment in 20/20 cricket,” Langer declared on Fairfax radio 6PR.
“We saw that this (Big Bash) series.
“He reminds me of Chris Gayle when he sets the foundation.
“He gets to the 12 or 14 over mark and then explodes, exactly like Chris Gayle.
“Chris Gayle is a superstar of 20/20 cricket and so is Shaun Marsh.”
Langer, who stepped down as Australian team batting coach in November to take up full time coaching with his home state of Western Australia, applauded the recall of Marsh into international duty.
Marsh dominated this summer’s Big Bash league when he plundered 412 runs at a hefty average of 59 and a strike-rate of 130.
He belted a competition-high five half-centuries as a front-liner in Perth’s second successive appearance in the Big Bash grand final, but the Scorchers lost for a second time when fast-finishing Brisbane took the title at the WACA Ground.
Marsh played the last of his eight T20 internationals almost a year ago against India when he made a duck from just two balls ending a disastrous summer that threatened the big-hitting left-hander’s career at the highest level.
He was banished back to state ranks in a bid to rebuild his technique and personal confidence after horror Test series and limited over summer against the Indians.
He had scored just 17 runs from six innings across four Tests against India before Marsh also failed in his brief outing in the T20 clash in Melbourne.