Royal Challengers Bangalore star Chris Gayle has backed the Indian players to do well in the upcoming ICC Champions Trophy despite going putting up indifferent performances with the bat in the ongoing Indian Premier League.
The likes of Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, Kedar Jadhav, Rohit Sharma and MS Dhoni have struggled to play their usual games in the tournament but Gayle is confident that shifting to the 50-over format will give them enough time to get settled and consequently returning back to form.
“The good thing about T20 cricket is that it’s a very quick format compared to ODI cricket, where you can give yourself a chance to bat a bit longer. It gives you more time to get set. With IPL pushed aside now, they (Kohli, Jadhav) will have enough time to regroup,” Gayle said.
“If the Indian top-order batsmen get set, we all know how dangerous they can be. We all look forward to that. Forget about the current IPL form, all of them are match winners,” he said.
Gayle feels a poor IPL will spur the Indian players to prove their worth in the eight-team tournament which is starting from June 1 in England.
“Everybody will be eager to become a standout man to win the tournament for their team. They will be hungry to prove a point,” Gayle said.
Gayle, who was a part of the West Indies team that had won the Champions Trophy in England in 2004, further advised the Indian team to be aware of the fickle weather in Birmingham and London, which can change the conditions in a blink of an eye.
The defending champions will begin their title-defence against Pakistan on June 4 in Birmingham, the same place where they had lifted the trophy four years ago.
“I am not a ‘Weather Man’ to tell you about the sort of climate you will get but little experience that I have had playing cricket in England over the years, you can get five different kind of weather conditions in a single day. It can get very, very tricky. Weather will play a huge role in places like Birmingham,” said Gayle.
Gayle also showed empathy for his franchise skipper Virat Kohli who had gone through torrid time in this IPL. The finalists of last year struggled to do well throughout the season and became the first team to fall out of the playoffs race. They finished the season as the bottom-ranked team with just 7 points in their kitty.
“You feel for Virat when he has to put forth his views at post-match presentations when the team loses so consistently. You can see he is at loss for words. What reason can he give match after match?” he asked. But then he knows that he is the leader of the pack. But when a team loses, we are all in it. All I can say is that we would like to put up a far better show next time round,” he said.
When asked whether the newly-laid Chinnaswamy pitch was a reason behind his team’s poor performance at their home ground, where they managed just a solitary win, Gayle said “Yes, it was a factor. The Chinnaswamy track was relaid and the drainage system became better. It soaked all the water and the pitch became dry. Now, Chinnaswamy is a traditionally 180-plus wicket where 140 became a winning score.”