Chris Gayle is, arguably, the most destructive batsman in the history of T20 cricket. In fact, in the history of all three formats of the game. Since the introduction of domestic T2O leagues, Chris Gayle has been travelling all around the world and destroying bowling attacks after bowling attacks.
Many fans and cricket pundits believe that Chris Gayle has made a huge contribution in the success of domestic T20 leagues across the world, with his big bat that keeps smashing huge sixes.
In IPL 2018, Gayle is playing for Kings XI Punjab and his selection in their squad was full of drama during the auctions. To the surprise of one and all, Chris Gayle was not picked by any of the franchises in the first round of IPL 2018 auctions.
But, in the second phase of the auction, Virender Sehwag suggested to his owners to make a bid on the Big Jamaican and this is how he was bought only for his base price.
Recently, KXIP’s co-owner Ness Wadia revealed how they didn’t have enough and they just managed to get Gayle in their squad. Wadia revealed that KXIP had just INR 2.1 crore and luckily no other franchise showed interest in Gayle and they managed to get him for INR 2 crore.
“We had only Rs 2.1 crore left and if we had bid for Chris Gayle earlier (at the auction) and another team came up with a counter bid, we did not have the money to buy him. Luckily, no other team bid for him and we were more than happy to get third time lucky,” Ness Wadia said in an interview.
Ness Wadia also spoke on Yuvraj Singh and his lack of form in IPL 2018 so far.
“Yuvi is not among the runs at the moment but we hope that he will bounce back. He is of good value to the franchise and that is why we got him back,” said Wadia referring to Yuvraj, who was KXIP captain in the first two seasons.
He also told PTI that KXIP wanted to build a long-term team and they were ready to spend big for that in the auction room.
“We wanted to build a team for the long term. We wanted to spend more money. We wanted an Indian captain and to be honest we wanted Ashwin at any cost. He is a genius and knows what it takes to win (having won IPL at CSK).
“We were very clear that if we spent the money we would get what we were looking for. That was the difference with the old strategy. Bringing an Indian captain also brings in a lot of flexibility,” said Nadia adding that going for Afghan spin sensation Zadran as very much Ashwin’s idea.
Talking about KXIP’s journey in IPL so far, Wadia said that the franchise is finally making profits and it has been a long wait for the owners.
“Finally, it is making sense (financially) after 10 years. It has been a long wait. The most important thing is when we got into the IPL the focus was on to promote sport. IPL has led to the emergence of cricket leagues around the county. I am so glad about that.”
