Chris Gayle in IPL 2020: As Kings XI Punjab recorded a remarkable victory in their second game of the tournament after missing the first one by a whisker, KL Rahul broke his silence about the Universe Boss Chris Gayle.
Arguably one of the most dominant batsmen of the shortest format of the game, Chris Gayle has reigned supreme in all the years that he has played in IPL ever since he parted ways with KKR.
However, his absence from the batting lineup has in fact stirred a few questions that have been bothering the Punjab fan. We are very well aware of the fact that if he comes out of that shell that he is cocooned in at the moment, he can rain devastation upon any bowling lineup irrespective of the monikers they have.
Snubbing all possibilities, Punjab has walked into the fray with their star-opener KL Rahul and an unheralded Mayank Agarwal. Agarwal single-handedly swayed the game in Punjab’s favor with an incredible 89 off just 60 balls in the first match before coming undone to a super over while he posted a decent 26 off just 20 balls before being dismissed in the second game.
It was KL Rahul who transformed the game on its head with a blazing display that saw him smoking the bowlers in all corners of the park, staying unbeaten till the end, garnering 132 from 69 deliveries.
Before the game, he finally broke his vow of silence about Chirs Gayle as he said:
“Chris Gayle will come in at the right time, don’t worry about it. It was tough sitting at home and so we are grateful to get this opportunity to play. The guys are enjoying themselves despite the rustiness in the first game.”
Now, going by the surface of this statement, it hints at the fact that Chris Gayle will only come in case of a fiasco by the top order. This is very derisory indeed for a batsman who holds the potential to destroy any bowler in the flash of an eye. However, no player comes before a team.
Rahul was visibly irked about hearing that question being reiterated countless times and that was one of the probable reasons why he chose to make a clean slate.
It is highly unlikely that Chris Gayle will be the likeliest replacements of Maxwell and Cottrell for KXIP. The only man so far who he can replace in the lineup will be Nicholas Pooran who has failed in both the games to whip up a good score. Only time will tell that will the Universe Boss be seen in the colors of Punjab again or not?
