IPL 2016: Virat Kohli is not too worried about Chris Gayle's form with the bat
Royal Challengers Bangalore skipper Virat Kohli doesn't seem to be too worried about the indifferent form of the swashbuckling West Indian opener Chris Gayle. According to Kohli, the buccaneering southpaw is just a knock away from a big score.
Gayle has had a terrible start to the IPL as he has just managed to score a single run in the first two games for the franchise. He got out for a duck in RCB’s last match against the Delhi Daredevils which RCB lost courtesy of a brilliant hundred by Quinton de Kock.
“I am sure he will come good at some stage of the tournament. Probably, he may get hundred for us when it’s required the most. I am not too worried about Gayle because the other guys are stepping up nicely. Cricket is all about grabbing the opportunity, if some others fail,” Kohli told reporters after his team’s defeat at the hands of Delhi Daredevils.
A standout player for the franchise
Standing firmly by the side of the Jamaican, Kohli reminded one and all that 17 centuries that the Jamaican has scored across all his career T20 games is definitely “not a joke”. Kohli also said that the big-hitting opener is extremely proud of playing for RCB and he has been a standout player for them.
Defending his opener, Kohli also said, “ I think people just expect a lot out of him every T20 match he plays because he is good at it and has scored 17 centuries, which is not a joke. So, expectations are high and Gayle wants to live up to them.
Chris Gayle has been struggling off late and has failed to register any double digit score since the hundred he scored against England in the ICC T20 World Cup 2016. However, despite Gayle’s recent slump in form, RCB has managed to put up huge scores on the board largely due to the efforts of their skipper Virat Kohli and overseas player AB de Villers.
RCB scored 227 in the first game against the Sunrisers Hyderabad and against Delhi they put up a total of 191 on the board. Kohli pointed out that the team has scored that many runs without any impact from Gayle.
“Well we got 230 in the first match and then almost 200 in this match, without Gayle firing. Guess what would happen when he fires! Four guys — Gayle, AB de Villiers, myself and Shane Watson — of international calibre playing in one team, it always helps. You can rely on those four and turn the game for you,” he said.
Talking about Quinton de Kock’s brilliant hundred which helped the Delhi side chase a daunting target of 191 with the utmost of ease, Kohli admitted that the talented southpaw from South Africa handled the spinners exceedingly well.
“I think it was wonderful, especially how he handled spinners. It always helps as wicketkeeper to know the pace of the wicket, and knowing which he settled down rather quickly,” he said. “He is a quality player and has been doing well for South Africa in international cricket, and on a wicket which assists the batsmen, he is very dangerous player”.
Kohli’s 79 went in vain
Kohli himself had a great game as he once again registered a 75+ score but his knock went in vain as RCB’s bowlers weren’t really up to the mark. Kohli also admitted that they should have scored more in the last four overs and said that one cannot expect Sarfaraz Khan to repeat his heroics in every match.
“A bit of it was that Delhi bowled well and lack of execution from our end. This always makes a difference, as the following batsman finds it difficult, especially at the death to come in and straight away start hitting,” he added.
“We felt we were 50 runs short, and were targeting 200. May be if I had faced 15 balls of the last four overs, we would have got to 215 as well”.