For the last seven years, only one team enjoyed the Chris Gayle storm in the Indian Premier League (IPL) and that is Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB).
The most decorated Twenty20 batsman of all time plied his trade for the franchise, for the past seven seasons. And it is safe to say that he lived up to his reputation.
The swashbuckling batsman Gayle scored close to 2,000 runs with the help of five centuries. In addition, he hit a staggering 239 sixes and 249 fours.
Throughout his stay, he was one of the batting mainstays of the team. However, the franchise surprisingly decided to part ways with an ageing Gayle for the ongoing season.
As a result, Kings XI Punjab signed the giant Jamaican in this year’s auction.
And the tables can now turn at Royal Challengers. The three-time runners-up will take on Kings XI Punjab on Saturday (April 13) and Gayle might make them pay for parting ways with him, given he is included in the playing eleven.
But in any case, Bangalore head coach Daniel Vettori has said his team knows how to stop the hard-hitting southpaw Chris Gayle.
“We probably won’t anticipate playing against Chris tomorrow. But if he does, if any team knows how good he is that is RCB and what he has done for the team for a number of years. We are fully aware of his strengths and how we can handle him,” Vettori said.
At the same time, he also hoped that the team takes care of KL Rahul. The former Royal Challengers batsman has started his season with a 14-ball fifty against Delhi Daredevils.
“Hopefully, the team can also tackle KL Rahul who is in fantastic form and knows the conditions here pretty well,” Vettori said.
“KL is obviously in fantastic form in the first game and he knows these conditions. He missed all last year for us, it was sad not to see him perform (play at all) but he has gone away to KXIP and started exceptionally well. Hopefully, we can tackle him well,” he added.
Meanwhile, Royal Challengers will be keen to get back to winning ways at their home. They have started the season with a six-wicket loss against Kolkata Knight Riders at Eden Gardens.
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