IPL 2019: Ignore Chris Gayle at your own peril
Chris Gayle struck a whirlwind 79 off 47 balls in his team's (the Kings XI Punjab) 14-run win over the Rajasthan Royals at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur on Monday night. This allowed the team from Mohali to get their campaign off to a winning start and secure two points from a difficult away game.
The game was marred by the controversial way Jos Buttler was given out 'Mankaded' to Ravichandran Ashwin and that incident only shadowed impressive performances from both the participating sides.
People who were talking about Gayle being past his prime were given a befitting reply during his typical T20 innings. At one stage, it looked like the Kings XI would amass more than 200 runs but quick wickets later on prevented that from happening. Gayle, however, was sublime, if such a word can be used upon him.
He cut, pull and drove in the air with amazing ease and comfort. India's left-arm quick Jaydev Unadkat, who came into the IPL on the back of a fantastic Ranji Trophy season, was in for special treatment and ended up bowling only 3 overs which leaked 44 runs at 14.67. Gayle was going hammers and tongs and struck 8 fours and 4 sixes in his innings at a strike rate of over 168.
Gayle had evoked mixed reactions after being released by the Royal Challengers Bangalore last season and after going for several rounds in the IPL auction without attracting a buyer, was snapped up by the Kings XI for his base price of INR 2 crores. He paid the franchise back with a century last season against the Sunrisers Hyderabad and has begun the brand new IPL season in a promising manner.
The Jamaican's awe-inspiring track record in the IPL, which projects over 4000 runs scored with 25 half-centuries and an astonishing 6 centuries, is more than enough to give opposition bowlers sleepless nights. All talks of him having been past his prime and crossing the threshold no longer hold good. Chris Gayle is back and he is here to stay.
The twelfth season of the IPL may just give Gayle the platform to relaunch himself inside people's minds, for at this stage of his career, all he needs is that familiar feel of glory and that sweet sound of ball meeting wood in his ears. Ignore him at your own peril.
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